Philly police: Celebratory gunshots on NYE are not permitted
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) – A warning on Friday ahead of New Year's Eve from law enforcement in Philadelphia. They're urging you not to celebrate by firing guns into the air, or you will be prosecuted.
Cheryl Ruffin of West Oak Lane is planning to ring in the new year at Mt. Airy Church of God in Christ. The church will be hosting its annual 11 p.m. New Year's Eve mass.
"Absolutely, I wouldn't miss it," she said. "Right before Christmas, we've been preparing for this day. This is a celebration."
But church leaders worry about the so-called celebratory gunshots.
"We've heard them coming out of church. And so we try to stay in church to as close as 1 o'clock a.m. as possible, January 1st. So that some of those activities can settle down," Bishop J. Louis Felton, of Mt. Airy Church of God in Christ, said.
Shortly before noon on Friday, the Philadelphia sheriff wrapped up a news conference, saying so-called "celebratory gunshots" can result in arrest, regardless of whether someone is injured.
Philadelphia Sheriff Rochelle Bilal, the Philadelphia Black Clergy and others came together Friday at City Hall.
Officials call it a serious matter. They also referenced the apparent celebratory shots that were fired on July Fourth on the Parkway, leaving two officers injured and sending crowds of people running for their lives.
"We are pleading with the citizens of Philadelphia. New Year's is a celebration and we want you to celebrate," Sheriff Rochelle Bilal said. "We want you to have a good time bringing in 2023, but what we don't want you to do is go outside your house recklessly and shoot your gun up in the air. What goes up must come down."
Still no arrests in that July Fourth incident.