A 61-year-old woman from Houston was shot dead outside her home on New Year's Day by what authorities believe to be a stray bullet from celebratory gunfire in a nearby neighborhood.

Authorities received a call just after midnight reporting that the woman had been shot while celebrating the coming new year with her family.

She was pronounced dead at the scene by authorities.

The woman was identified as Philippa Ashford, a nurse who worked at a mental-health facility in Houston.

The incident came after the Harris County Sheriff's Office had warned against the dangers of "celebratory gunfire" earlier in the night.

A woman in Houston was shot dead outside her home one minute into 2020 in what the police believe was a stray bullet from celebratory gunfire to ring in the new year.

Authorities responded to a call from the home of the 61-year-old woman, Philippa Ashford, at 12:01 a.m. on New Year's Day, according to the Associated Press.

Ashford was celebrating the new year with her friends and family with fireworks in the neighborhood when the incident happened, according to Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez.

An image provided by The Menninger Clinic of Ashford, who authorities say was fatally shot by a stray bullet outside her Houston home as she rang in the new year. (Michael Hart/The Menninger Clinic via AP)

Investigators told ABC12 Houston that as the group celebrated the start of 2020, Ashford suddenly clutched her body and said "I think I've been shot" before collapsing to the ground.

Ashford was pronounced dead at the scene, according to the Harris County Sheriff's Office.

Gonzalez said authorities believed she could have been struck by a stray bullet fired from outside the immediate neighborhood.

In a statement to the Houston Chronicle, Sgt. Ben Beall, a spokesman from the Harris County Sheriff's Office, said there was no indication that anybody in the cul-de-sac where Ashford lived had used firearms at the time. He added that the police were unable to find shell casings anywhere in the immediate vicinity.

Investigations are still ongoing, according to the AP.

The Harris County Sheriff's Office had posted a warning earlier in the night against the use of celebratory gunfire in the area, a misdemeanor they said was punishable by a fine of $4,000 and up to one year in jail.

Ashford worked as a nurse at the Menninger Clinic, a mental-health treatment facility in Houston.