Last year, Dayton police received 30 reports of gunfire from 11 p.m. on New Year’s Eve to 5:59 a.m. on New Year’s Day. It was the most reported in the previous four years, according to Dayton police data.
The department reported the following shots fired data during the same time period for previous years:
- 2018-19: 13
- 2019-20: 23
- 2020-21: 30
Lt. Col. Eric Henderson, Dayton police assistant chief and deputy director, noted data likely underrepresents shots fired incidents because people don’t report every occurrence.
Also, sometimes damage from celebratory gunfire isn’t noticed until weeks or months after it happened.
“There’s a lot of time where it goes days — maybe weeks, months — where roof damage is discovered or damage is done to a vehicle that the citizen wasn’t aware of that was likely linked to this type of activity,” Henderson said.
Though some people may think it’s safe to celebrate by firing into the air, Henderson stressed it’s easy for things to go badly.
“Obviously, what’s shot in the sky has to come down,” he said. “Some of the issues we’ve encountered over the years that I’ve personally witnessed or been made aware is property damage — houses struck, cars struck, businesses struck. We’ve actually had citizens injured by likely celebratory gunfire.”
Anyone who witnesses people firing weapons, or any other criminal or suspicious behavior should call 333-COPS (2677) or 911 in the case of an emergency.
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