A 5-year-old boy was grazed by a bullet in the first hour of New Year's Day, after someone fired what police called "celebratory" gunfire, and the bullet penetrated the roof and ceiling of his South Side home.
The boy suffered minor injuries and was treated at a hospital and released, said Sgt. Fabian Pacheco, a Tucson Police Department spokesman.
The child was sleeping in his bedroom and was hit behind the ear by the bullet likely fired by someone ringing in the new year, Pacheco said.
Celebratory gunfire is a major concern for the Tucson Police Department every year, as the stray bullets can cause serious injury and death to innocent people, Pacheco said.
Detectives responded to investigate and the bullet was recovered, Pacheco said. If a firearm is recovered they may be able to match the slug to the gun and continue the investigation.
"These are very difficult cases to solve because you have to prove who fired that bullet that struck the child," Pacheco said, adding that many people engage in the "reckless act" of firing a gun into the air to celebrate the new year, he said.
In a separate incident as the new year began, a bullet smashed through the kitchen ceiling of a house in the 1900 block of West Riverview Boulevard, near North Silverbell and West Grant roads, Pacheco said.
No one was injured by that bullet, he said.
Bullets can travel thousands of feet into the air, slowing as they ascend, he said. They regain their speed as they fall back toward the ground and can reach a velocity of 700 feet per second, Pacheco said.
In June of 1999, a 14-year-old girl, Shannon Smith, was killed by a falling bullet in her Phoenix backyard, prompting the Arizona Legislature to enact Shannon's Law, which makes it a felony to negligently fire a gun into the air.
