Stray bullet kills English astrophysicist visiting Atlanta

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BROOKHAVEN, Ga. -- A stray bullet struck and killed an English astrophysicist while he was inside an Atlanta-area apartment, authorities say.

Matthew Willson, 31, of Chertsey, Surrey, England, was visiting his girlfriend in the United States when he was hit by a bullet that pierced the wall of the apartment. The shooting happened early Sunday morning, only three days into his visit.

Shepard, whose apartment is in the Atlanta suburb of Brookhaven, who told the television station that the couple woke up on Jan. 16 to the sound of more than 30 gunshots coming from an apartment complex directly behind Shepard’s. A bullet traveled through Shepard’s wall, hitting Willson, she said.

“I held him for another 20 minutes while we waited for the ambulance,” she said. “And while we were waiting, there were more gunshots fired.”

“Matthew Willson was a former PhD student at the University of Exeter and much-loved member of our astrophysics team," a university spokesman said in a statement.

No arrests have been announced.

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