Stray bullet grazes employee on WEL

A Duke employee was grazed by a stray bullet Thursday afternoon while standing outside the West-Edens Link dormitory, Duke police reported.

The victim was standing on the Building D terrace walkway discussing a building project with several other people when a bullet grazed his hand at about 2:45 p.m.

"It was nothing life-threatening," said Maj. Robert Dean of the Duke University Police Department, adding that the employee was transported to Duke Hospital but was expected to be released the same day.

Lt. Davis Trimmer said several people reported hearing a popping noise right before the employee was struck. A hole in an awning above where the employee was standing indicates a bullet may have been fired randomly up in the air from Duke University Road or the N.C. 751 area and landed next to the dorm, he noted. Police recovered a bullet at the scene.

"It appears that it was from a distance, but how far we don't know," Dean said. "It's something that came down onto the awning and through the canvas and just broke the skin."

There were conflicting reports Thursday night as to whether the employee was a construction worker or an employee in the architect's office.

Police searched the area, but did not locate anyone with a gun. An investigation into the incident is continuing. The Durham Police Department did not report any gun firings around the time of the incident, Dean said.

He added that he could not recall a similar incident ever occurring before on Duke's campus.