'It sounded like a big pop': Bullet flies into couples' car on I-85 in Gaston County

GASTON COUNTY, N.C. — A husband and wife were driving on Interstate 85 in Gaston County last Friday when they heard a loud pop hit their car.

What they thought was just a rock turned out to be a bullet.

Army veteran, Joe Wood, and his wife, Teresa Wood, from Mount Holly, were near the Belmont Abbey exit on Interstate 85 on their way to see a VA doctor at a hospital in Charlotte when their car was hit.

"If that bullet would have been half a second sooner, it would have hit me in the driver's seat," Joe Wood said.

They thought whatever the object was might have hit a window, but when they arrived at the hospital, they noticed a hole in the trunk.

The couple said they called Belmont police and an officer found a bullet intact in the car.

"The officer said it had to be somebody on top of the bridge shooting down," said Joe Wood.

He said he has had three heart attacks and has a pacemaker and this was a close call he didn’t need. If the shot had been fired seconds earlier, he said it could have hit him in the driver's seat.

"I'm just was glad it didn't hit me,” he said. “I just got out of the hospital and then this happens."

Police took pictures of the car and kept the bullet for examination.

"I hope the cops catch you 'cause this is highly dangerous," Joe Wood said.

Authorities could not confirm where the shot came from since the case is still under investigation.

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