Re: Child Killed When Neighbor Shoots At Trash

Locally, there's a guy in the hospital because of celebratory
shooting--he stepped out at midnight to fire his gun in the air, & the
local police shot him (fourth paragraph down).

From the [Springfield IL] State Journal-Register--

Lots of shots for New Year?s
Tradition for some is illegal and dangerous for all
By JAYETTE BOLINSKI
STAFF WRITER

Published Friday, January 04, 2008

A Sangamon County sheriff?s deputy recalls shotgun pellets raining
down onto the hood of his patrol car. Springfield police officers are
encouraged to keep Kevlar helmets in their cars, just in case. Right
after midnight, ?all you hear is gunshots,? a resident says. New
Year?s Eve in Springfield ? it?s like a war zone, they say.

Firing gunshots into the air at midnight, and apparently for hours
afterward, is a time-honored tradition for some city residents. But
authorities say it?s illegal, and it has led to people being injured
and even killed.

?People seem to think it?s OK to step out and fire a weapon into the
air to celebrate the new year,? said Sangamon County sheriff?s Capt.
Jack Campbell. ?In fact, it?s a very dangerous situation for their
neighbors, for themselves and for law enforcement in the area.?

A Springfield man who stepped outside his home at midnight NewYear?s
Eve and fired several rounds skyward was promptly shot by police
officers who happened to be in the area and say they saw him firing
the gun. The officers approached the man, James Wells, and ordered him
to drop his 9mm gun, but they say he refused and pointed it at them.

Wells, 39, has five bullet wounds in his body ? how many shots caused
them has not been determined ? and he is in the Intensive Care Unit at
St. John?s Hospital.

He faces charges of aggravated assault, aggravated unlawful use of a
weapon and reckless discharge of a firearm and will be taken to jail
upon being discharged from the hospital.

His longtime girlfriend, Jeannette Stapleton, says she was inside the
house and never heard officers order Wells to drop his gun.

?I?m telling you, before James shot, there were so many gunshots going
on. That?s why the cops were here. Starting about 11:30, you?d hear
them. About 10 ?til, five ?til and a couple minutes ?til, they were
shooting,? Stapleton said in an interview Wednesday.

?I don?t think there?s anything wrong with it as long as you shoot a
couple times and stop. ? He wasn?t shooting at no one. He was firing
straight up in the air. People do that every year. He was just ringing
in the new year. He does it every year.?

That?s a problem, authorities say. First, randomly firing a gun
anywhere in the city is illegal and can result in a person being
arrested for reckless discharge of a firearm. Bullets may seem to
disappear into the air, but they have to come back down. And they can
land anywhere ? on a roof, a car, a child or someone?s head ? leading
to serious damage or critical injuries.

There are plenty of examples from this week alone:

*In Denver, a bullet possibly fired to celebrate the new year ripped
through the wall of a house just after midnight, killing an
11-year-old girl and a woman attending a party inside. Authorities
believe the bullet was fired from a high-powered rifle from as far as
300 yards away.

*A 5-year-old boy sleeping in his bedroom in Tucson, Ariz., was grazed
by a bullet fired to celebrate the new year.

*In Dallas, a 2-year-old girl suffered minor injuries when a bullet
fired by a new year?s celebrant tore through the roof of a mobile home
and grazed her elbow.

Carline Curtis, 64, has lived at 12th and Ash streets for almost 40
years and said she?s come to expect the celebratory gunfire.

?I?ll be 65 years old, and honestly since I was a child I know it
happens at midnight every year,? she said. ?I heard several gunshots
north of me this year. It sounded like it was on Oak Street. I was
going to call the police myself, but I thought maybe I better not
because (people) are probably shooting all over town.?

She said all she usually hears is ?pow, pow, pow, pow, pow? at
midnight New Year?s Eve. This year, she counted eight to 10 shots at
midnight.

?It really doesn?t scare me because I?m used to it. It happens every
year. It?s nothing new in Springfield. The officers should know that,?
she said.

?I just feel bad for Mr. Wells. I don?t know the circumstances, but I
do know people shoot their weapons at 12 o?clock. It?s just tradition.
I?m sure the officer that shot feels bad, and I?m just praying that
Mr. Wells pulls through. Unfortunately, this ritual or tradition
happens all the time.?

Campbell said he was patrolling near Wheeler Street and Capitol Avenue
New Year?s Eve in 1999, which was about to become 2000. He had his
window cracked and heard a gun go off fairly close.

?The BBs from a shotgun round rained down on my car, so it had to be
probably within that block where it came from,? he said. ?My patrol
car had little chips in it. I could look on the hood of my car in the
light and see where something sprinkled on the car.

?That?s pretty typical for not only our department, but for most law
enforcement people.?

Deputy police chief Doug Williamson said the Springfield department?s
supervisors try to warn officers who have never worked at midnight New
Year?s Eve to be prepared to hear shots fired all over the city,
especially in areas that are known to be hot spots for such activity.

?It is a problem for us. We know that every year right at midnight
that numerous, if not dozens, of people throughout the city go outside
their residences and shoot off firearms,? he said.

?With the officers, especially the new officers who?ve never worked
New Year?s Eve at midnight, we advise them that it might not be a bad
idea to make sure they have their Kevlar helmets close while on
patrol.?

Springfield police declined again Thursday to talk about specifics of
this week?s incident involving Wells and referred inquiries to the
Illinois State Police, which is conducting an investigation at the
request of the city police.

Lt. Scott Compton, spokesman for the state police, said,
?Unfortunately, we cannot comment at this time because it is an
ongoing investigation.?

Campbell said it?s nearly impossible to catch a person firing a
celebratory shot.

?I cannot recall somebody actually making an arrest on a New Year?s
Eve shots-fired call,? he said. ?They step out and step back in, so
unless somebody witnesses it, it?s impossible to narrow it down.?

Jayette Bolinski can be reached at 788-1530 or jayette.bolinski
@sj-r.com.

New Year?s Eve shots-fired calls in Springfield

Here is a breakdown of the complaints reported to the Springfield
Police Department for shots fired on New Year?s Eve for 2006/2007 and
2007/2008. The information does not include multiple complaints for
the same incident or reports by officers in the area.

New Year?s Eve 2006/2007

From 10 p.m. Dec. 31, 2006 until 2 a.m. Jan. 1, 2007

Time Place

10:40 p.m. 14th Street & South Grand Avenue

11:52 p.m. Poplar & Oakdale avenues

11:59 p.m. 1500 block of Loveland Street

12:01 a.m. Martin Luther King Drive & Clay Street

12:01 a.m. Greentree area

12:01 a.m. 15th & Renfro streets

12:02 a.m. 2600 block of South Fourth Street

12:07 a.m. 2000 block of East Keys Avenue

12:08 a.m. 2000 block of East Laurel Street

12:10 a.m. 2100 block of East Keys Avenue

12:12 a.m. 2100 block of Watch Avenue

12:15 a.m. 19th & Kansas streets

12:19 a.m. Taylor Avenue & Radcliff Road

12:20 a.m. 2000 block of North 17th Street

12:22 a.m. 15th Street & Cornell Avenue

12:24 a.m. Brandon Drive

12:33 a.m. 900 block of Indiana Avenue

1:30 a.m. 15th Street & Cornell Avenue

New Year?s Eve 2007/2008

From 10 p.m. Dec. 31, 2007 until 2 a.m. Jan. 1, 2008

Time Place

12:00 a.m. Milton & Clear Lake avenues

12:01 a.m. 1900 block of Scarbrough Road

12:02 a.m. 1900 block of South 13th Street

12:02 a.m. 1900 block of East Jackson Street

12:03 a.m. 1800 block of Wabash Avenue

12:04 a.m. 2200 block of East Adams Street

12:11 a.m. 14th & Stuart streets

12:13 a.m. 13th & Clay streets

12:15 a.m. 3000 block of Normandy Road

12:25 a.m. 2100 block of South 13th Street

12:28 a.m. 15th Street & Capitol Avenue

12:44 a.m. 1800 block of South 17th Street

1:02 a.m. 1000 block of North 12th Street

1:06 a.m. 1400 block of East Cedar Street

1:52 a.m. 2000 block of Randall Court

Source: Springfield Police Department
http://www.sj-r.com/News/stories/23003.asp

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