Teen Gamer’s Headset Prevented Him From Getting Struck by Stray Bullet

A California teenager could have been struck in the head by a stray bullet if it weren’t for his gaming headset, CBS News reports. 

Jonathan Gonzalez, 18, recalls playing PlayStation with his friends shortly after midnight on April 1 when he felt something hit him in the head. “It felt like if you’re wearing a bike helmet and someone just smacks the top of your head,” Gonzalez said. Upon surveying his room, he saw a bullet hole in his window. It appears the bullet ricocheted off his Razer Kraken gaming headset and bounced off a wall before winding up on his bed. 

“It’s still a trigger for me to process the thought that I could’ve lost my son,” Gonzalez’s mother Janet Popoca said. “We were asleep and if it did hurt him, we would not have known until we woke up hours later.” Gonzalez said he initially ran into his parents’ room screaming because he thought he had been shot until realizing that the headset saved his life. 

The LAPD officers who responded to the incident were admittedly in disbelief over what they heard. Authorities don’t believe the shooting happened nearby. Even though the gunman hasn’t been caught, his family hopes that an arrest is eventually made. 

“Thinking about it for the first week made me sick,” Gonzalez said of his brush with death. 

Razer has since sent Gonzalez a new headset.