Police arrested a man yesterday accused of shooting the stray bullet that killed a young mother Wednesday night in Briarwood, Queens, shattering the immigrant neighborhood’s relative calm and sense of safety.

According to police, Danny Carpio, 23, allegedly fired five shots into the air shortly before midnight to celebrate his return home from a military assignment in Texas. But one of the 9 mm bullets reached a fifth-floor apartment on 85th Road, piercing a window and hitting Selina Akthel, 28, in the right eye, police said. Her husband, Golam Maola, told the New York Post he was on the phone with relatives in Bangladesh when he heard shots. He discovered his wife’s body lying in a pool of blood in a bedroom facing the street. The couple’s two children, ages 5 and 10, were not injured.

Last night, Mr. Carpio was charged with one count of manslaughter, one count of criminal possession of a weapon in the second degree, one count of criminal possession of a loaded gun, and one count of tampering with evidence, since he disposed of the gun after shooting it Wednesday.

It was not known yesterday what prompted Akthel to stand by the window. A neighbor from across the street, Aron Katayev, 20, described the block as a hangout at night, when children often set off firecrackers. When Mr. Katayev arrived home Wednesday night around 1 a.m., he said ambulances and police cars choked the tree lined street, and a spotlight was fo cused on Akthel’s window.

Yesterday afternoon, police searched for the murder weapon. Around 4 p.m., reporters watched as an unmarked police car escorted the suspect to the scene, where he could be seen riding in the backseat with a baseball hat pulled low. Police were anticipating that he would show them where he stashed the gun, a detective at the scene told The New York Sun.

However, over the next 45 minutes, nearly a dozen police officers and a police dog unsuccessfully searched the bushes, garbage cans, and rooftops of houses nearby. They also peered into an abandoned lot around the corner from the shooting, which a neighbor identified as the remains of a house that was demolished two years ago.

Many neighbors were stunned to learn what had happened on a block located just steps away from P.S. 117, in an otherwise quiet neighborhood populated by working-class immigrant families from Pakistan and India.

“It’s a good neighborhood, but we don’t know why this happened,” said Aunali Hussain, 52, who lived in the same four-building apartment complex as Akthel and frequently saw her playing with her two young children outside. “She was a nice lady,” he said.

According to neighbor Tara Basnet, 33, who lives across the street, the shooting has made her uneasy – and may make her more cautious. Ms. Basnet said she did not hear the shots Wednesday night, but said she is worried for her husband’s safety, as he typically returns home from work around