What are the odds of getting hit by a stray bullet.

So, I'm sitting at my desk eating lunch and I hear 5 shots from the apartment complex behind my office. The red arrow is my desk. The red circle is where the round entered the building. 

It proceeded through the building, exiting one of the front roll up doors. 

Crossed the parking lot and bounced off the next building and came to rest in the parking lot. 

Best guess, something in the .45 range. 

Needless to say, my lunch was interrupted by laying on the concrete floor by my desk.

I have never been that close to being shot. It will raise your heart rate a good bit. 

I wonder what a piece of 3/8 plate costs. I'm getting the urge to bolt some to the wall behind my desk.  

A bullet passing through a steel door makes a hell of a lot of noise. 

There is a fair chance I won't get much done the rest of the day. 

Edited for spelling. Pretty sure nothing preceded the bullet as it proceeded through the building. 

I think my lunch would have been interrupted by crapping my pants.

Wow, that's pretty scary.  I'd definitely consider adding some plate metal to the inside of those purlins.

holy E36 M3 dude.  Glad you're ok

Good lord! Glad you're okay. I assume the police are going to be interrupting your day to collect evidence. I saw a news story about a company that is manufacturing bullet proof normal clothes. They're expensive, but seem to work. Welcome to the future?

With the drunks in Wisconsin during hunting season? Pretty good. When I heard spent rounds crashing through the trees above me, I called it quits. 

Armor plate is pretty pricey

Regular plate isn't so bad

Glad you're ok and no one was in the trajectory, that's a hell of a wake-up. 

I’ve got a motorcycle helmet with a groove in the top of it from being shot at while riding. 

Glad to hear you are ok. (And glad I am too!)

I was pretty surprised at the speed the PD responded. And they responded in force. 8-10 officers as well as CSI to collect casings and the bullet. 

This area has been pretty quiet for the last couple of years. The apartment complex was bought last year and a pile of money dumped into it to move it up the market some. Hope it's not a sign of future things. 

Glad to know you are OK.....

LAPD park under the Freeway crossings New Years eve  around midnight......

I always wonder how many are hit in Iran etc when the celebrate by shooting machine guns into the air .......

Did the Cops tell you what happened ?   If its random  then its hard to put up  a shield when it could be from many locations......

armored clothing??

BTW, who'd you piss off recently? 

It depends on the neighborhood. Thankfully it’s been a while since I’ve had to think about it.

In reply to californiamilleghia :

I think someone was shooting at someone. Possibly someone shooting at a passing car since all the rounds didn't end up in the same place. No bodies though. There were 5 shots, then 10 minutes later 3 more from a different area of the complex. At that point we were outside looking for the bullet in the parking lot. 

The PD says the complex is well covered by security cameras so there is a good chance they will catch them. And with people, namely me, so close to the line of fire, an attempted murder charge could well be filed. 

Appleseed said:

BTW, who'd you piss off recently? 

I've been discussing selling the Abomination again. It's been suggested that it may be taking it poorly. 

very glad you are safe...

Let's talk about the abomination... I've been looking for a fun car and would really like to have it.. if it's at all possible

To zip through the steel like that, I'm going to GUESS something in the 40 S&W or even 10mm range.  45ACP tends to loose a lot when passing through objects and I think there's a good chance the roll door would have stopped it with just a big dent.  Put some calipers on the entrance hole on the door.  Nice expansion.  That was a quality bullet.

Glad your OK.

I had something similar happen a couple years ago on NYE.  Found a cracked windshield, messed up wiper arm and what appeared to be a 9mm slug in my rain tray the next day.  I coined the term ballistic anomaly.  Needless to say I'm glad I don't live in Milwaukee anymore.

Dang dude, glad you're OK.

In reply to Dr. Hess :

The hole in the door is .490.

Toyman01 said:

The PD says the complex is well covered by security cameras so there is a good chance they will catch them. And with people, namely me, so close to the line of fire, an attempted murder charge could well be filed. 

Attempted murder?  Hmmm ... seems a stretch, having shot through a closed door and all.  Deadly conduct, maybe.  

Glad to hear you're ok and hopefully it was a one off incident.

I've been there and I'm glad that phase of my life is over. Thankfully no one ever managed to tag me.

Time for some extra cameras around the building?

In reply to slantvaliant :

Sounded like a stretch to me as well. Unless he knew the building was occupied and was firing with the intent of hitting someone in the building. 

Glad you are OK.   Unfortunately, it isn't as rare as you think.   

There was a laughable passage in a WWII novel many years ago, in which a British cop examined bullet holes in a downed airplane and could tell, by eye, that they had been made with an 8mm and not a .303 bullet (.323" vs .312").  That's up there with some of the great CSI moments.  

Some materials retain holes larger than the bullets and some retain holes smaller.  Velocity of the bullet, elasticity of the material, friction, geometry ... lots of variables in terminal ballistics.  

Come to the south side of Chicago.  

Edit - Sadly every weekend.