CAPE CORAL, Fla. — The 4th of July weekend is a time to celebrate the United States' independence. With that, comes fireworks and explosions to light up the sky, and so does random gunfire.
As people get ready to celebrate the 4th of July weekend, Cape Coral Police are reminding residents in the Cape not to fire their guns to mark Independence Day.
This is known as "celebratory gunfire," and not only is it not a good idea, it's extremely illegal in Florida. Firing a gun into the air might seem harmless but it's actually quite dangerous and has great risk.
We spoke with Cape Coral Police and Brandon Sancho, the Public Information Officer who said he is surprised that the department still has to give out this warning. However, the 4th of July is a time CCPD gets more calls about random gunfire.
“A lot of these people don’t realize these projectiles—these bullets, if they go up they are going to come down," said Sancho. "They can travel miles they can strike people, houses vehicles anything like that.”
Officer Sancho did say that every 4th of July the department gets calls of celebratory gunfire.
Shot Spotter, a publicly-traded company that works with law enforcement on gunfire detection calls this a "very serious" issue— with people injured and killed in the United States.
In Florida, it is illegal for any person to discharge a gun outdoors in a neighborhood.
"It’s extremely frustrating too that people are doing things like this with total disregard for other people,” Officer Sancho said. "We’re here now reminding our residents — don’t do stuff like that. If people do, especially in our jurisdiction, we will be called...we will investigate...and if need be, we will also take you to jail. There is a whole slew of charges that can come from something like this, we will also actively seek it as a crime scene too.”
Officer Sancho added that the investigation can lead to misdemeanor and felony charges.
