Hendersonville father hit by random bullet during Nashville Fourth of July firework show

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WSMV) -A Hendersonville family was watching the fireworks in downtown Nashville Tuesday night when their father got shot in the knee out of nowhere.

Richard Martocci said he was the victim of a celebratory gunshot and is recovering from a wound to his knee.

“I just wish people would be more responsible with guns,” he said. “Things like this shouldn’t happen.”

Martocci says he and his family were on a hill south of I-40 to watch the firework display. They wanted to be away from crowds, traffic, and crime, so they thought.

“I feel something on my knee,” he said. “I look down, I see a bunch of blood. I start to panic and the guy in front of me obviously heard what was going on. He reached down by my foot and found a bullet.”

Martocci said he was sitting in his lawnchair when the bullet went through the top of his knee and out the bottom. He said he freaked out, grabbed his kids, and went to the hospital because they didn’t know if more bullets were coming.

“When I get to Skyline the officer tells me that I was the fifth one who was hit who had the same report last night and it was probably someone shooting celebratory gunshots,” he said.

Martocci wasn’t alone. Metro Nashville Police said a victim was shot on Demonbreun St. and First St., and another was shot on Korean Veterans Boulevard.

“The officer told me the likelihood of figuring out these crimes right here, they never figure out who did it,” Martocci explained.

While he may never know who shot him, he said he’s thankful he was hit where he was.

“I could have been leaning, my daughter could have been sitting in my lap,” commented Martocci.

He added he and his family do not plan to go back to the downtown firework display for years to come.

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