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Falling Bullet Hits Gresham Teen In Foot

POSTED: 11:18 am PDT June 23, 2008
UPDATED: 5:05 pm PDT June 23, 2008

A falling bullet struck an unsuspecting Gresham teenager in the foot after a gun was fired into the air Sunday night, police said. Josh Koga, 16, had to undergo surgery on his foot after he was struck in the foot with a bullet while talking to his friends.

Koga had been visiting friends at a home on Morrison Street when he heard something that sounded like either fireworks or gunshots. He then felt a pain in his foot, which began to bleed, and quickly realized a bullet was in his foot.

"It went into the side of his foot … between his big toe and the next toe. Just right there," Koga's friend Craig Slate said.

Koga and his friends told police that they hadn't seen a vehicle or any possible shooter in the area.

The mother of one of Koga's friends called 911 while officers were already responding to a report of shots fired at an apartment complex on Southeast 223rd Avenue, about a block away from where Koga was struck by the bullet.

Emilo Villegrana, 18, and a 16-year-old boy, who both lived at the apartments, were then arrested on charges of assault, recklessly endangering and unlawful use of a weapon in connection with the shooting.

Police said they recovered a weapon believed to have been used to fire the shot that hit Koga.

The two suspected shooters likely couldn't have seen Koga from where they fired the shots, police said. Villegrana was booked into the Multnomah County Detention Center, while the 16-year-old was taken to the Juvenile Detention Hall.

Koga was taken to a hospital. He may be released Monday night.

As the Fourth of July weekend approaches, police said the incident served as a reminder of the dangers of firing guns into the air.

Falling Bullet Hits Gresham Teen In Foot

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