A British astrophysicist visiting his girlfriend in Atlanta was killed when a stray bullet hit him as he slept in bed.
Dr Matthew Willson, 31, from Chertsey in Surrey, died from a gunshot wound to the head after a bullet came through his bedroom wall as he lay alongside his girlfriend, police in Brookhaven said.
Officers said Wilson did not appear to have been targeted deliberately, and that the weapon was discharged “recklessly” by a group of individuals in a neighbouring block of flats.
The bullet travelled 800ft through a forest and a wall before hitting him the head, according to reports.
Wilson was visiting loved ones in Brookhaven, Atlanta when the shooting took place.
Sergeant Jacob Kissel told WSB-TV: “This was a senseless act - this was an innocent victim. She and her boyfriend were laying in bed. He was here visiting from England. He was visiting a loved one. He had just flown into the Atlanta area.
“We lean on the public to understand that this is a tragic event, and we hope that they may come forward with any information they may have.”
He also told BBC Radio Surrey: “These two roadways parallel each other and are separated by a woodline.”
He added: “They (police officers) immediately responded to the priority call, the person being shot. That’s where they met with a female caller who was rendering aid to her boyfriend who had been shot in the head.”
His family requested privacy but his heartbroken sister Kate Easingwood, who is a molecular biology PhD student based in Sweden, posted a tribute to him on Instagram today, saying: ”World is so unfair.”
Willson had worked as a postdoctoral researcher at Georgia State University for two years, having also worked at the University of Liège in Belgium, MailOnline reported.
A Foreign Office spokesperson said: “We are supporting family of a British man following his death in the US, and are in contact with US authorities.”
