Shreveport Police Dept.

Date: Dec 26, 2007

Phone: 318/673-6932 Fax: 318/673-6933

Contact: Randy Patrick, Night-Side P.I.O.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Police target illegal discharge of weapons on New Years

Shreveport Police Department is cracking down on people who choose to recklessly endanger the lives of themselves and others by shooting guns into the air on New Year's Eve.

Officers will be on the lookout for anyone firing a weapon during New Year's celebrations. If they are caught, they will be arrested and get to spend the new year in jail -- and there is plenty of room there for violators.

When guns are shot in the air, it is unpredictable where the bullet will land. But what goes up, must come down. According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, bullets fired into the air can return to the ground at speeds greater than 200 feet per second.

At the stroke of midnight on Jan. 1, 2007, two paramedics in New Orleans literally dodged a bullet from an AK-47, which was fired into the air. The bullet landed in the roof of the vehicle but stopped short of penetration. A trajectory of the bullet showed that had the bullet entered the vehicle, it would have struck one of the paramedics in the head or neck. A photo of the ambulance can been seen by going online to http://www.emsresponder.com/article/article.jsp?id=4634&siteSection=1

Since a Boston tourist visiting New Orleans was killed by a stray bullet on New Years Eve in 1994, paramedics actually wear helmets to protect themselves. The shot hit the ambulance about an hour after the paramedics were instructed to put on their helmets.

Gunfire in Shreveport hasn't prompted a helmet warning, but the issue is important enough to concern police officials.

Fireworks are legal, and may be used until 10 p.m. each night of 2007 and until 1 a.m. on New Year's Day. The police department recommends that if anything should be shot off, it should be fireworks. Anything else will get you arrested.

Information can be left with crimestoppers at 673-7373 or by logging onto the crimestoppers website at www.crimestoppersshreveportcaddo.com.

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View all SPD press releases at www.ci.shreveport.la.us/dept/police/spdnews