By Jean Cole and Jennifer R. Hill

jean@athensnews-courier.com

It was a cool summer night and Kelvin Davis was shooting hoops with his wife, his two sons and the neighbor’s child when he went up for a basket and came down with a bullet through his side.

In the space of a few seconds, a stray bullet had ripped through his side and plunged his family into one of the worst nights of their lives.

The 41-year-old McCulley Mill Road man remained in serious condition in the surgical intensive care unit at Huntsville Hospital Wednesday evening, a spokeswoman said.

“It appears that it was an accidental shooting through somebody’s stupidity,” Limestone County Sheriff Mike Blakely said.

The family heard a loud bang as they were playing, Blakely said. But because it was so close to July Fourth, they assumed they heard the sound of fireworks, the sheriff said.

“Then they realized he had been shot,” he said.

Investigators have no reason to believe anyone targeted Davis.

They cordoned off his home at 16476 McCulley Mill Road with crime-scene tape Wednesday morning while they searched for the stray slug. So far, they have been unable to find it.

Investigators believe the shot was fired west of the residence and could have come from a moving vehicle or from nearby apartments. The bullet tore through Davis’ lower side and exited his abdomen shortly before 8:50 p.m.

A reward has been posted for information leading to the arrest of the person who shot Davis, the sheriff said. The person could face charges of reckless endangerment or something more serious, depending on intent, and other factors, Blakely said.