Fri., December 30, 2011 3:00pm (EST)

Police Cracking Down On Celebratory Gunfire

By Josephine Bennett

Updated: 1 year ago

MACON, Ga.  —   Law enforcement officials in Macon are cracking down on so-called ‘celebratory gunfire’ this New Year’s Eve. They want the public to remember that what goes up, must come down. When that bullet fired into the air does fall it’s going more than 200 miles per hour.

Chief Deputy Dave Davis with the Bibb County Sheriff’s office says that’s what happened in November near a busy Macon road.

“Some individuals were firing into the air and a bullet came down and went through the windshield and struck a lady driving. It’s not just limited to the particular holidays. It can happen at any time. But, we do see a larger prevalence of it at New Year’s Eve especially.”

Davis says it’s not only dangerous; it’s illegal to discharge a weapon 50 yards from a public street or highway. Two years ago a 4-year old in Atlanta was killed when a bullet pierced the roof of a church on New Year’s Eve, striking him in the head.