British doctor, 31, is killed by a stray bullet in Atlanta while lying in BED

A British doctor has been killed by a stray bullet in the US while sleeping in bed after someone fired a gun from a nearby apartment complex in a freak tragedy.

Matthew Willson, 31, of Chertsey, Surrey, had been staying with relatives in a flat in a suburb of Atlanta in Georgia when he was struck in the head by the bullet.

Dr Willson’s sister Kate Easingwood, who is a molecular biology PhD student based in Sweden, posted a tribute to him on Instagram today, saying: ‘The world is so unfair.’

Multiple people phoned 911 in the early hours of Sunday morning at about 2am after hearing gunshots in the 3600 apartment complex on Buford Highway in Brookhaven.

After officers had arrived on the scene, another person called 911 to report that a man had been shot inside an apartment in the nearby 3100 block on Clairmont Road.

Officers moved to the 3100 block and found Dr Willson with a gunshot wound to the head, according to Sergeant Jake Kissel of the Brookhaven Police Department.

Dr Willson was taken to hospital but was pronounced dead. Police have not yet arrested anyone but said officers were investigating the death as a homicide.

Doctor Matthew Willson (left, with his girlfriend) was killed by a stray bullet in Atlanta

Dr Willson’s sister Kate Easingwood posted on Instagram today, saying: ‘The world is so unfair’

Dr Willson, 31, had been staying with relatives in a flat in a suburb of Atlanta in Georgia

Dr Willson is understood to have been a postdoctoral researcher at Georgia State University and was previously a student at Exeter University in Devon. 

Detectives believe the deadly shot was fired into the apartment from the neighbouring complex and described it as a ‘reckless discharge of firearm(s)’.

They also do not believe Dr Willson was an intended target of the shooter and are working on the premise that the fatal shot was a ‘random act’. 

A Brookhaven Police Department spokesman said: ‘This incident appears to be a random act involving individuals participating in the reckless discharge of firearm(s) which led to the tragic death of Dr Willson. 

‘Dr Willson was in town from England visiting loved ones when the incident occurred.’

A UK Foreign Office spokesman said today: ‘We are supporting family of British man following his death in the USA, and are in contact with US authorities.’

Dr Willson was shot inside a flat in the 3100 block on Clairmont Road in Brookhaven, Atlanta

Another view of the 3100 block on Clairmont Road in Brookhaven, Atlanta, where he was shot  

Shots were heard from the nearly 3600 apartment complex on Buford Highway in Brookhaven

Brookhaven is widely regarded as one of the nicest places to live in the US state of Georgia.

The leafy suburb, which is popular with young professionals, is on the outskirts Buckhead, a northern area of the state-capital Atlanta.

Buckhead is described by the Washington Examiner as a wealthy white ‘enclave’ or Atlanta, a city where more than 50 per cent of the population are African American.

Buckhead leaders are in the process of attempting to take the area out of Atlanta to become its own city. 

Supporters say the streets of Buckhead have become a playground for lawless behaviour.

However opponents claim Buckhead’s true motivations are race-based. They also argue stripping Atlanta of the tax revenue generated by Buckhead would bring Georgia’s largest city to its knees. 

Anyone with information is asked to call Brookhaven Police at 404-637-0636 or submit anonymous tips to Crime Stoppers by calling 404-577-TIPS (8477).