St. Thomas junior Charles Pechous suffered a minor injury in his apartment after a stray bullet grazed his wrist early Saturday morning.

The bullet entered Pechous’ off-campus apartment on the 1700 block of Dayton Avenue several blocks east of campus.

“I was just sitting watching TV, eating some food, and I heard the sirens before; then I heard a pop,” Pechous said. “The bullet went through the window and grazed my left wrist, and then it actually went into the Gatorade bottle I was holding in my left hand and it ended up staying in there.”

Pechous said he thought someone was shooting at his house.

“I was pretty scared. I honestly didn’t know what was going on,” Pechous said.

Pechous said he was bleeding “a lot.” He told his roommates to call 911. Pechous said the bleeding slowed down and he went to the emergency room around 10 a.m. Saturday morning.

According to an email Vice President of Student Affairs Jane Canney sent to St. Thomas parents who are registered for the UST Parent Resource program, the bullet was fired during a police chase. St. Paul Fire Department paramedics arrived and treated the wound.

“Police said they do not believe there is an ongoing threat to the St. Thomas neighborhood,” Canney said in the email.

Grace Pastoor can be reached past6138@stthomas.edu.