DEMING, Wash. — Officials with Whatcom County Fire District 14 issued a statement today, April 7, 2025, that while transporting a patient, it appears that an ambulance was struck by a bullet.
Last night, April 6, at around 9:30pm, A92 was transporting a chest pain patient to rendezvous with our Advanced Life Support partners at the Welcome Grocery Store.
While traveling west on Mt. Baker Highway with their emergency lights on, between MP 18 and 19, the driver reported a loud bang when something struck the windshield.
After transferring the patient to the waiting ALS [advance life support] ambulance from Bellingham Fire, the crew returned home. Upon inspection at the station, it appeared that the ambulance had been struck by a bullet.
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Click for more informationAfter our law enforcement friends took a look, their conclusion was that we likely were struck by an errant .223/5.56 bullet as they were traveling down the highway. The bullet hit the ambulance’s windshield, then ricocheted into the sheet metal.
No injuries occurred to either our patient, or our ambulance crew.
Couple of lessons for this one, bullets, especially rifle rounds, travel a really long way when fired into the air or without a proper backstop. There has been both injuries and fatalities in our county from this in years past. We’re extremely fortunate that our patient and crew weren’t hurt or worse.
Additionally, please remember to follow the law and general “good ideas” when discharging firearms. Have a good, solid backstop. Don’t shoot at night, don’t combine drugs & alcohol with firearms, and don’t point a firearm at anything you don’t want to put holes into (like ambulances!). For all the rules, check out WAC 332-52-145.
– Whatcom County Fire District 14 (April 7, 2025)
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