Toddler Was on Her Backyard Slide When Stray Bullet Came

Ariel Salaices of Tennessee, 2, is on life support
By Bob Cronin,  Newser Staff
Posted Mar 22, 2019 2:50 PM CDT
Stray Bullet Leaves Girl, 2, on Life Support
Ariel Salaices has undergone surgeries and suffered a stroke.   (Getty Images)

A 2-year-old girl is on life support in a Tennesee hospital after being struck by a stray bullet while playing in her backyard with her brothers. Ariel Salaices was on a slide when she was shot, ABC News reports. Her mother said the girl fell off the slide, then walked toward the house, falling in front of her father and brothers. One of the boys had immediately screamed for their father. "If it weren't for him and my husband, she probably wouldn't have had a chance," her mother says. Ariel has undergone several surgeries, the family's GoFundMe page says, and has suffered a stroke.

Police in Mountain City don't know where the bullet came from. A shooting range is nearby, but authorities don't think the shot came from there. Ariel's aunt has asked that whoever fired it come forward. The local sheriff told WYCB that the shooting shows how dangerous firing a gun near homes can be. "Make sure you're looking beyond where you're shooting," he said. "Because that bullet may not stop where you want it to." (More stray bullet stories.)

Get the news faster.
Tap to install our app.
X
Install the Newser News app
in two easy steps:
1. Tap in your navigation bar.
2. Tap to Add to Home Screen.

X