El Paso is considered one of America's safest cities, but it was painfully reminded of its proximity to one of the world's most dangerous yesterday. As cops battled carjackers in Ciudad Juarez, a stray bullet crossed the border and struck a Texas woman in the leg as she shopped in downtown El Paso, AP reports. The 48-year-old woman was pushing a child in a stroller at the time. The bullet, apparently fired a few hundred feet from the US border, exited cleanly, and the victim was treated in a local hospital and released.
Several cross-border bullets have hit buildings in El Paso over the last few years, but this is the first time a person has been struck. The city's mayor says residents shouldn't panic. "People get struck by lightning, too, and that doesn't make us stay indoors when there is a rainstorm," he tells the El Paso Times. "It is very unfortunate that this happened. Fortunately, the woman was not seriously hurt. That is a blessing." (More El Paso stories.)