City leaders urge revelers to celebrate gun-free

MIAMI (WSVN) -- Officials are urging everyone to have a safe Fourth of July celebration by not firing guns.

Monday morning, Miami-Dade County and City of Miami officials held a new conference reminding the public about the dangers of celebratory gunfire just days ahead of Independence Day celebrations. "A bullet can land as far as a mile away if shot up into the air, and you may not even hear the gunfire but you can probably hear a bullet crashing through your window, crashing through your ceiling," said Miami Police Chief Manuel Orosa.

People have been killed over the years by stray bullets falling from the sky when people choose to celebrate with weapons. In 2008 an 11-year-old Opa-Locka boy playing near a dumpster was killed when a neighbor fired into a piece of discarded furniture celebrating the New Year.

County officials said this is a tradition that needs to be left in the past. "Hopefully, we will on July the fifth celebrate that nothing had happened in the City of Miami and that everybody had a party and no one killed the party," said City of Miami Mayor Tomas Regalado.

Officials urge anyone who hears gunfire to contact local police.

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