15-year-old girl struck in head by stray bullet at family party in Bloomingdale

BLOOMINGDALE, N.J. (WABC) -- A stray bullet hit a teenager and now the young girl's parents are speaking out about the split second their Fourth of July celebration turned into a nightmare.

The girl's mother is still understandably shaken. Police want to know who fired that shot and why.

It was a typical Fourth of July party with family and friends having an amazing time at a home in Bloomingdale, New Jersey Saturday night.

It was a beautiful night sitting near the lake, watching fireworks, enjoying great food, and having lots of laughs.

Then, a bullet hit a 15-year-old girl sitting on her dad's lap.

"All of a sudden we heard a popping noise. And she said, 'Oh my God I can't hear.' We reach up and we felt some blood on her head," her father said.

Eyewitness News is hiding the family's identity because the person who fired that bullet into the air has not been caught by police.

The New Jersey teen was rushed to the hospital, at first not knowing there was a bullet lodged between her scalp and skull.

"A doctor came in and examined her and saw there was this thing in her head and it was a bullet in my child's head," the victim's mother said.

"We didn't know why she was bleeding we thought it was a firework. The doctor at the hospital removed a nine millimeter bullet from her scalp, it lodged itself so deep that nobody saw it," her father said.

The family is telling their story as a reminder, really a warning; this is what can happen when someone fires a gun into the air for fun.

"She is still able to talk and walk and we are truly blessed she's still here I hope no one else will ever shoot into the air. I didn't realize bullets could go so far away and hit somebody who was just trying to have fun at a family party," her mother said.

"She's feeling OK physically, but mentally living something like that I think it's going to wear on her and the entire family for quite some time," her father said.

Anyone with information that might have been in Morse Lakes or more specifically in the area of Buena Vista Way is asked to call police at 973-838-0158.