Billy Martin Has Close Call With a Bullet
Former New York Yankees Manager Billy Martin, 61, narrowly escaped a bullet from a derringer pistol fired accidentally in a bar, police said today.
The bullet struck above the bar where Martin was sitting at Larry Bird’s Boston Connection Hotel, missing Martin by about two feet, said Ray Watts, chief of detectives for the Terre Haute police.
The incident occurred Saturday night, but no police report was available at the time.
Watts said the two-shot pistol in a woman’s purse fired when another patron knocked the purse off a table and onto the floor.
Watts said Martin admitted being shaken on hearing the shot, but he said police did not discover until later how close the bullet had come to him. No arrests were made, and police did not release the gun owner’s name. The pistol was properly registered, investigators said.
Martin was in Terre Haute to speak at Indiana State University.
Start your day right
Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
