Tampa teacher hit in neck by celebratory gunfire on Fourth of July in Ohio

TAMPA, Fla. (FOX 13) - A local teacher is recovering after being hit by a stray bullet believed to be connected to a case of celebratory gunfire.

It happened Thursday in northeast Ohio where Samuel Rotker is temporarily working for the next few weeks. He says he was talking a walk outside when all of a sudden he was hit by a bullet.

"It was just like a ton of bricks from above. Bam, right in my neck. Instantly thrown to the ground," Rotker told FOX 13. "That's when I knew it wasn't a firework or a BB gun or something like that. I knew I had been hit by a bullet."

The bullet struck Rotker in the right side of his neck.

"Is it worth it to kill or seriously injure another person and you know you could be connected to that person. This could be your school teacher," Rotker's wife Nyssa Hanger said.

Hanger is still reeling from what was supposed to be fun holiday weekend. Rotker is a school teacher from Town 'N' Country and is temporarily working in northeast Ohio for the next five weeks.

He was walking around a school campus when he was struck by the bullet. Paramedics rushed him to hospital and performed a CT scan.

"When I was hit, I took a deep breath and I could breathe. And I swallowed and I could swallow. So I kind of came to the conclusion like, 'I think I'm going to be OK.' And I went home at the end of the day," Rotker said.

As of right now, Rotker said he will not have to have surgery. The bullet is still in his neck, but it is not causing him any severe pain or problems so doctors don't have any plans on removing it any time soon.