Stray bullet rips through home, bounces off N.H. man's forehead

ROCHESTER, N.H. – Josh Demeritt was sitting on his bed in his Rochester home playing video games Tuesday night when the action came to life.

"Next thing I know I heard a loud noise, and I see some paint flying across the room," the 20-yaer-old  Demeritt told CBS station WBZ. "I see the mark on the wall, I feel something hit me in the top of my head, and I thought somebody threw something in the room at first."

Demeritt had no idea what had just happened.

"I ended up finding the bullet on the floor right next to where I was sitting," he told WBZ.

Police say a neighbor across the street, 25-year-old Corey Field, was trying to clean his gun when it discharged.

The path of the bullet from Field’s upstairs apartment on Leonard Street is clear. After it cleared a wall of his apartment, it sailed across the street through a window, curtains, and a wall before hitting Demerritt.

Police say after the gun discharged, Field went to a nearby laundromat down the street and tried to hide the gun in the snow.

He also hid a casing in a crushed soda can in his apartment, police say.

"He was lucky that the bullet had gone through enough of the structures to run out of energy," said Capt. Paul Toussaint of the Rochester Police Department.

Field was arraigned Wednesday on two felony counts.

He has posted $5000 cash bail and has been released pending a court hearing later this month.

A family friend at Field’s apartment declined to talk about the incident.

As for Demerritt, the family he lives with knows the incident could have been a lot worse.

“I think that people should definitely take safety courses and know what they're doing before they handle guns,” said Donna Stuart.