Girl Killed by Stray Bullet On New Year's Eve

[Ecuajey]

Girl Struck By Apparent Stray Bullet On New Year's Eve Dies In Puerto Rican Hospital

By FRANK GRIFFITHS

January 6, 2003
Copyright © 2002 ASSOCIATED PRESS.
All rights reserved.

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) - A girl who was hit by a stray bullet during New Year's celebrations died in a San Juan hospital, police said Monday.

Jennifer Perez Centeno, 12, was celebrating Tuesday night with her family in the San Juan suburb of Canovanas when she was struck by a single bullet. Perez did not have movement in her legs immediately following the shooting, police said.

She died in Rio Piedras Medical Center on Sunday, police spokeswoman Galnilca Pena said. Pena did not know if anybody had been arrested in the case but the girl's death was being treated as a homicide, she said.

At least 23 people were wounded by stray bullets during New Year's celebrations in Puerto Rico this year. Some islanders shoot guns into the air on New Year's Eve about midnight, although police have warned against the practice. Some bystanders are injured every year in the U.S. Caribbean territory.