Police Say Soldier’s Stray Bullet Kills Woman in New York
NEW YORK — A mother of two peering out her living-room window was killed by a stray bullet that police said was fired by a drunken Army private celebrating his homecoming.
Selina Akther, 28, approached the window to investigate what her family and other witnesses described as several loud bangs that sounded like gunshots just before midnight Wednesday.
The bullet shattered the window and struck Akther in the right eye, officials said.
She was pronounced dead at the scene.
Five stories below on the sidewalk, a group of young men who had been drinking were hollering.
One of them, Danny Carpio, 23, who lives two blocks away, police said, confessed that he fired the gun.
Later, at the station house, Carpio lamented that he had done a “stupid thing†and that he wanted to die, a police source said.
Charges were pending Thursday night, police said.
The victim’s husband, Golam Maola, 40, said he was in the bathroom when he heard a loud crash and came out to find out what had happened.
“I held her in my hands and screamed,†Maola, a food vendor who preceded his wife to the United States from Bangladesh 15 years ago, said Thursday.
“My kids were screaming in the bedroom. I called 911, and I didn’t know what to do.â€
On the street below, a witness who lives in the building said, the flurry of five shots was interrupted by the crash of broken glass and a young man yelling, “What are you, crazy?â€
The witness said one of the young men replied, “Yeah, we’re crazy,†followed by the slamming of doors and squealing of car tires.
As Akther’s family -- including her daughter, Tasnia Tanas, 10, and son, Tamjid Tasin, 5 -- planned for a funeral two days shy of the slain woman’s 29th birthday, police searched for a suspect.
Seven hours after the shooting, a witness led detectives to Carpio, police said.
It had been a night of celebration for the young Army private, who had just returned from basic training at Ft. Hood, Texas.
“We believe he was out partying with his girlfriend and he comes upon his friends,†Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly said at police headquarters.
“He approached his friends, and that’s when he fires the shots in the air.â€
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