JACKSONVILLE, Fla — Dispatchers were swamped with calls of shots fired across Jacksonville late Tuesday night going into Wednesday morning, with officers responding to multiple places across the city.
The Jacksonville Sheriff's Office tweeted a warning about celebratory gunfire earlier in the evening but many did not pay attention, according to call logs.
From around 9:15 p.m. to around 3:20 a.m., 102 calls of shots fired (firearm discharge) were received. 41 of those calls were received between midnight and 1 a.m.
"It's stupid, I mean we have family and children around town," said Jeremy Hayes, a Jacksonville resident. "I mean bullets come down from the air just as they go up.
First Coast News asked JSO to provide the number of arrests made from firearm discharge during that time frame. We are waiting to hear back.
The practice of shooting in the air to celebrate an occasion is a dangerous, and sometimes deadly one.
In Houston, a 61-year-old woman was killed by a stray bullet Wednesday morning while lighting fireworks in her driveway with family.
Last year, a Jacksonville man's windshield was shattered in Murray Hill by what he said was a falling bullet during New Year's.
The illegal discharge of a gun is a first-degree misdemeanor, punishable with up to a year in prison and up to $1,000 in fines.