Clayton woman hit by 4th of July celebratory gunfire in Raleigh

RALEIGH (WTVD) -- Raleigh police are investigating after a woman was hit by celebratory gunfire on the Fourth of July.

It happened in the Pearl Ridge subdivision on Scofield Drive.

Alexandra Christie and her friends were sitting on a mat in the backyard watching fireworks when the night took a turn.

That's when the Clayton woman was hit by a bullet.

The bullet left a small scratch and a welt but she didn't need to go to the hospital.

On Monday, she said she was still in pain but grateful it wasn't worse.

"I'm okay. I'm a little shaky," Christie said. "I'm still a little shaken up. I was crying most of the night, a little freaked out. But I'm here. I'm alive. I'm breathing."

Last Fourth of July, a celebratory gunfire incident ended tragically in Durham.

Paulette Thorpe was hit by a stray bullet -- just weeks before her 75th birthday.

Her family marked her death on Sunday with a balloon release at Beechwood Cemetery.

They asked for people to think about their actions on the holiday.

"You don't need guns to celebrate, fireworks are okay," said Paulette's nephew, Carlos Lyons. "If you're going to use a gun, point it at the ground. A bullet has to come down somewhere. Nobody wants to be on the end of a phone call that you've loved one got killed or injured because of something so senseless."