[epow]

It's bizarre because my college physics teacher said that a free falling bullet lacks sufficient mass at terminal velocity to do much damage.

Your physics teacher was wrong. I have read of several people being killed in Miami by bullets that were fired straight up in the air. It's a custom in the Cuban community to celebrate holidays and such by firing guns into the air, and Miami radio and TV warn people to get under a bridge or some other substantial covering before midnight on New Year's Eve.

[LouAvul]

Actually he was right. If the bullet is fired directly upward perpendicular to the earth then it will reach zero velocity. At that point it begins its freefall until it reaches terminal velocity. "Terminal velocity" is the maximum speed an object will reach in velocity due to gravity.

The terminal velocity of something as small as a bullet (e.g., 38 special=158 grains) is not lethal.

However, when people randomly fire a bullet into the air they do not fire it directly perpendicular to the earth's surface. Especially not a bunch of drunken cubans and mexicans on New Year's. Such a random shot will be fired at an angle which makes the bullet lethal.