Elderly Woman Is Knitting In Her Home, Gets Shot Through Her Front Window

A 71-year-old woman from Pittsburgh, Penn. was shot while knitting in her own home on the north side of the city.

According to the Huffington Post, an unidentified shooter shot the woman in the leg through her front window at 8:54 p.m. Monday night. Police spokesperson Sonya Toler reported that the elderly woman was rushed to Allegheny General Hospital to treat the injuries. She is currently in stable condition. The injury was not considered life-threatening and she is expected to recover.

It’s unclear why the woman was shot while knitting, and whether or not the assailant was even taking aim at her. It’s possible the bullet was stray fire from some other criminal activity outside the home. Five shell casings were recovered by investigators close to a basketball court across the street from the woman’s home. Local media reported that police are currently assuming the woman was not intentionally shot while knitting and that the bullet was probably stray.

Watch the news report about the woman shot while knitting below.

The unnamed woman told detectives that she was shot while knitting and sitting in a chair by her front window. The glass of the window exploded, and the next thing she knew she had a severe pain in her leg. She didn’t realize she had been shot, but knew she was injured, according to Penn Live. She was able to dial 911 and notify the authorities of the situation.

The incident occurred at the 400 block of Cedar Avenue in Pittsburgh. The investigation is ongoing and the shooter is still at large.

While Pittsburgh has a typically high crime rate for a large United States city, North Side is not one of the more dangerous neighborhoods in the area, according to City Data. While gang activity is prevalent throughout many of the neighborhoods, it was the city’s South Side that had the highest rate of violent crime for four years running, according to Public Source.

Why do you think the woman was shot while knitting? Do you think the shooter was aiming at her, or was this the unfortunate result of stray fire? Leave a comment with your theory below.

If you think an old woman getting shot while knitting is tragic and horrifying, read about the elderly 82-year-old woman who was raped in the middle of a public street while screaming “God help me.” Even worse, after the crime was committed, the woman had to wait three hours for help to arrive.

[Image credit: Eric Thayer/Getty Images]