Aiste Lukoseviciute of Montauk, 21, was sitting in the dunes at Kirk Beach Park on July 17 around 7 p.m. when a shot went off and hit her in the back of the head. East Hampton Town police found her bleeding heavily as a result of the shooting, which she initially thought had been a firework of some sort thrown in her direction.
She told the officers she'd noticed two early-teenage boys who were nearby in the dunes and apparently shooting at beer cans with a BB gun. After seeing them, she said, she heard a loud pop and felt a sharp pain.
She went down a trail in the dunes to look for them, she told police, but found only a Montauk Juicy beer can with BB or pellet-gun holes in it.
Ms. Lukoseviciute then realized she was bleeding and called 911. Police canvassed the area but they too were unable to find the shooters. It is not known whether the shooting was intentional or whether it happened accidentally; in any event, it was logged as a third-degree misdemeanor assault. The young woman was taken to Stony Brook Southampton Hospital, where a CT scan revealed a metal BB lodged underneath her scalp.
While rare, fatalities associated with BB or pellet guns do occur. Fortunately, the BB was removed without incident.