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The DNAinfo archives brought to you by WNYC.
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Stray Bullet Couldn't Bring Down Bronx Grandmother

By  Ben Fractenberg and Gustavo Solis | October 29, 2013 5:01pm 

 A 79-year-old Bronx woman with Alzheimer's disease was hit by a stray bullet while walking with her daughter near Yankee Stadium Monday afternoon, Oct. 29, 2013.
79-Year-Old Bronx Woman Shooting Follow
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THE BRONX — Not even a bullet could bring her down.

Norberta Duval, 79, was taking a walk with her daughter Medina Duval just blocks from Yankee Stadium on Monday afternoon when she was hit by a stray bullet, but she remained standing, Medina told DNAinfo New York.

"I thought my mother was going to die," Medina, 61, said a day after the shooting.

The mother, who suffers from Alzheimer's disease, and daughter usually walk the halls of their East 153rd Street building, but they decided on Monday to stroll three blocks to a park across from the ballpark, where the old stadium once stood, because it was a sunny, warm fall day, according to Medina.

They had made it less than a block to the intersection on East 153rd Street and River Avenue when shots rang out.

"We were waiting for the light to change. I heard a shooting but I did not understand what it was," Medina told DNAinfo in Spanish.

She then heard the hiss of a bullet and saw the reflection of something moving in front of her.

"I said, 'Mommy I think you got hit,' so I pulled her coat open and saw blood."

Medina said she saw a baseball-sized blood stain on her mother's blouse.

Hysterical, Medina Duval flagged down a nearby police officer, who called an ambulance.

Her mother somehow remained calm through the ordeal, staying on her feet until emergency responders asked her to lie down on a stretcher, Medina said.

She was rushed to Lincoln Hospital where she was treated and released.

Doctors said the bullet did not cause any internal damage, according to Medina.

The daughter did not see the shooter, but had a message for whomever pulled the trigger.

"Life is too precious to be shooting guns," Medina said. "We are human beings just like you."

A man in a silver SUV was seen fleeing the scene.

Norberta Duval moved from the Dominican Republic to the United States 19 years ago and used to travel to her native country often.

The elderly woman used to work in a paper factory in Santo Domingo to support her four children.

"She sweated for many years so we could go to school," said Medina, who moved to the city five months ago.

No arrest has been made and the investigation was ongoing Tuesday afternoon, an NYPD spokeswoman said.