Metro police detectives believe a celebratory gunshot fired into the sky came down and struck a tourist along Lower Broadway during Tuesday's July 4th fireworks display in downtown Nashville.

The man, identified by police as Paul Lickteig, 48, of Plymouth, Mich., was hit by a bullet about 9:40 p.m. in the area of Broadway and Fifth Avenue North.

According to police spokesman Don Aaron, Lickteig told officers he was watching the fireworks show downtown when he felt something hit his chest. He initially thought someone had thrown a water bottle his way before noticing blood on his shirt.

Doctors at Vanderbilt University Medical Center reported that a bullet entered Lickteig’s pectoral area in a downward trajectory, Aaron said.

Lickteig was treated and released from the hospital Wednesday morning.

Neither Lickteig nor his wife reported hearing a gunshot or seeing anyone in the area with a weapon.

Surveillance cameras also did not show any evidence of gunfire.

Aaron said the gun could have been fired into the sky many blocks away from Fifth Avenue and Broadway.

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Tuesday night's incident wasn't the first of its kind to occur downtown on Independence Day.

Just two years prior on July 4th, a 9-year-old girl was with her parents watching the riverfront fireworks show when she was struck by gunfire.

Ella Smith, who had been visiting from Mississippi, was at First Avenue South and Korean Veterans Boulevard when she felt discomfort in her back. She was transported to Vanderbilt University Medical Center where she was diagnosed with a gunshot wound.

In that case, police said, the bullet is likely came from some distance away and traveled downward, indicating someone may have randomly fired a weapon into the sky.

Reach Natalie Alund at nalund@tennessean.com and follow her on Twitter @nataliealund.