A 20-year-old San Diego City College student, living with her grandmother in a downtown condominium near the Gaslamp District, survived being struck in the head Tuesday by an errant bullet that was shot into her bedroom.
Daria Tolokonnikova, who also is a classical pianist and singer, was sitting on her bed studying shortly before 7 p.m. Tuesday when, without warning, a bullet blasted through the drywall of her bedroom, she shared with NBC 7.
Tolokonnikova was knocked out of her bed and collapsed on the floor, bleeding from the back of her head.
"I started blacking out. Everything immediately blacked out. I fall down on the ground for a second or two," Tolokonnikova recalled to NBC 7 Thursday.
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The round, a 9 mm bullet, was fired through a shared wall between Tolokonnikova's grandmother's condo and the immediate neighboring unit. It stayed lodged in another wall opposite Tolokonnikova's bed.
Police said the bullet was allegedly fired by 22-year-old Samuel C. Hernandez, a U.S. Marine Corps Cpl. assigned to Marine Aircraft Group 41 based at MCAS Miramar. Hernandez was arrested Tuesday evening on suspicion of negligently discharging a firearm.
Hernandez told authorities he was "just manipulating the firearm" when it went off, SDPD officer Darius Jamsetjee said.
Tolokonnikova's grandmother Raisa shared the police report with NBC 7. In it was a statement from the alleged shooter.
"I was practicing my dry firing of my pistol. It was a Glock 19 handgun that I own. I was being stupid and put my finger in the trigger and played stupid games. I was aiming at the wall," Cpl. Hernandez told investigating officers, according to the report.
"I was practicing my dry firing of my pistol. It was a Glock 19 handgun that I own. I was being stupid and put my finger in the trigger and played stupid games. I was aiming at the wall," Hernandez told investigators, according to a police report shared with NBC San Diego.
He was booked into San Diego County Jail early Wednesday morning, but was released later that evening after posting $25,000 bond, according to the San Diego County Sheriff's Department. Hernandez is expected to make his initial court appearance on Feb. 15.
Tolokonnikova said the incident has left her too scared to sleep in her room.
"I am just very scared to go to my room. When I hear some noises I get terrified," Tolokonnikova said.
Tolokonnikova underwent several X-rays and tests, and doctors were able to stitch closed the grazing wound and she was sent home.
While Tolokonnikova is nursing her wounds, her grandmother is still very sore about the carelessness of her neighbor.
“I would understand that it could happen with anybody but not the guy who is professional, who is in the military and was playing with a gun," her grandmother told NBC 7.
The 4th Marine Aircraft Wing provided the following statement to NBC 7 on Friday, regarding Hernandez's arrest:
"The Marine Corps is aware of the incident involving Samuel C. Hernandez, and we are cooperating with civilian authorities. We can confirm that Corporal Hernandez is on active-duty and attached to VMM-764, MAG-41, 4th Marine Aircraft Wing, stationed at Marine Corps Air Station Miramar. This incident is of a serious nature and directly contradicts all the weapons handling every Marine is taught from the beginning of their service. The Marine Corps takes firearm safety seriously, and we do not condone the unsafe actions alleged in the incident."
