| Dumb asses shooting into the sky to celebrate something isn't
something that only happens in the Middle East. Go outside in any American City on
New Years Eve or Fourth Of July, and sometimes just on a hot crazy Saturday night, and you
will hear some dolt with an automatic weapon spraying bullets strait up into the sky.
Semiautomatic rifles have a distinctive "even rhthym" when fired that
regular firecrackers do not. I myself went out one New Years eve and heard a rifle
bullet whistle by, tumbling from the sky and land "thud" about 20 feet from
where I stood. It buried itself deep enough in the wet earth that it could not
be located. It happens here in the U.S. all the time. Do these bullets kill when
they fall from the sky? The answer, according to large Metropolitan Police Departments is
YES! A 30 caliber rifle bullet, shot strait up in the air at a quick
2700 feet per second, goes up to about 9000 feet, then falls back to the earth. Due
to wind resistance, it will hit the earth at about 300 feet per second about 49 seconds
after it was shot. This is more than enough energy to put a hefty dent in a piece of wood.
About the equivalent of being hit hard in the head with a sharp hammer. It would
definitely be enough to kill if not ruin your day. Surely enough force to kill a
child. Shooting into the air when you consider the science of it, proves quickly to
be no kind of fun! |
Dumb asses shooting into the sky to celebrate
something isn't something that only happens in the Middle East.
|
The Science Of Bullet Flight
When a bullet is fired straight up into the air, the bullet's flight begins to
slow immediately, due to the effects of gravity and wind resistance, until reaches a
maximum height. At this maximum height, the bullet then begins to return to Earth, either
pointy-end first, or fat-end first, or in an end-over-end tumble.
On it's return flight to Earth, the effect of gravity increases it's velocity. But more
importantly, the effect of wind resistance limits it's velocity. The effect of wind
resistance is related to factors such as weather conditions, bullet shape, bullet weight,
and bullet position (pointy end first, or fat end first). The effect of wind resistance is
60 times stronger than the force of gravity.
In his book "Hatcher's Notebook", retired Major General Julian S Hatcher
recounts experiments which took place in Miami Florida in 1918, and Dayton Beach Florida
in 1919. In these experiments, weapons were fired straight up and bullets observed landing
in water, and on wooden piers.
The U.S. Military Cartridge of the day used a 150 grain bullet weight, .30 caliber round
which when fired, leaves the muzzle of a rifle at 2,700 feet per second. This bullet type
was used extensively in WWII, Korea, and to a lesser degree in Vietnam, by the U.S.
Military. A very similar bullet, the .308 Winchester is still in use in tri-pod mounted
machine guns and sniper rifles today.
When fired straight-up, this cartridge's bullet would return to earth in approximately
49.2 seconds. During the bullets upward travel, the effect of air resistance has a 60
times greater effect in slowing the bullet than does the force of gravity. In fact, a
bullet fired downward from an aircraft would slow to a similar velocity as one fired up
from then ground then to return to Earth.
The 150 Grain, .30 cal, 2700 feet per second.
Rises to 9000 feet in 18 seconds.
Falls 9000 feet in 31 seconds.
Has velocity of 300 feet per second at impact.
This is 30 foot pounds of energy. 60 lbs can kill reliably. 30 will mess you
up for sure, if not kill.
With a bullet weight of 150 grains, falling at 300
feet per second from the sky, the impact would result with 30 foot pounds of energy being
expended into the target. According to Hatcher, 60 foot lbs is required "to
incapacitate". However, even at 30 lbs, the possibility of a traumatic headwound,
even death, is certainly very possible.
Remember the old days when we just tolerated drunk driving. Even though
we all had a relative who had been killed by one?
Orlando Woman; Holding Her Baby, Shot In Face By
Falling .45 pistol bullet,
http://www.local6.com/news/5784022/detail.html
(good news video link at this site)
Bullet Falls From Sky Into Woman's Face
UPDATED: 6:41 am EST January 3, 2006
ORLANDO, Fla. -- A 26-year-old woman watching New Year's Eve fireworks in Orlando was
seriously injured when she was struck in the face by a stray bullet fired into the air
during the celebration, according to a Local 6 News report.
Investigators said Ruby Cintron was standing on the north shoreline of Crooked Lake in the
Highlands Lake subdivision off Hiawassee Road after midnight Sunday when she was hit near
the eye by the .45-caliber bullet.
Cintron was holding her 7-month-old baby when she was hit, her husband, Domingo said.
"She put the baby down and my brother and I took her to the house," Cintron
said. "She was saying the whole time, "Take care of the kids.'"
Detectives said the bullet came from someone who fired into the sky to ring in the New
Year from a nearby location.
Cintron was transported to Orlando Regional Medical Center but doctors were unable to
remove the bullet from her head, Local 6 News learned.
Cintron will need an artificial eye because of the damage caused by the bullet, according
to the report.
"She does not know what is ahead of her right now," Cintron said.
Neighbors heard several gun shots fired in the area after midnight.
"A lot of loudness and a lot of shooting, repeatedly, like semi automatics,"
neighbor Ray Beecham said.
Last New Year's Eve, a stray bullet fired more than 2,200 yards away struck and killed a
75-year-old man.
Police hope the person who fired the shot will turn themselves into authorities.
If you have any information concerning this shooting, you are urged to call Crimeline at
(800) 423-TIPS.
Watch Local 6 News for more on this story.
Bullet falls from sky, strikes baby in head
http://www.krqe.com/expanded.asp?ID=10843
Source: KRQE News 13 7/5/2005
ALBUQUERQUE -- Doctors are trying to save the life of an Albuquerque baby shot in the head
by a bullet that fell from the sky Monday night. The bullet was likely fired into the air
during a July 4th celebration.
The 11-month-old, named Alyssa, is being treated at UNM hospital and is in critical
condition.
While she is fighting to stay alive, police are trying to find out who put her there.
One Monday night Alyssa’s family was wrapping up their 4th of July party at their
grandmother’s house in southwest Albuquerque.
Alyssa's grandmother was just holding the baby in her driveway on Sunbow Court when the
baby suddenly cried out and blood began to drip from her head.
“(The Bullet) entered in rear quadrant (of the baby’s head) and exited out and
embedded into shoulder,” says John Walsh of the Albuquerque Police Department.
Police have recovered the bullet and have determined it came from a high caliber gun.
Forensics tests will help determine more.
Police say finding the person who fired the gun could be tough. Depending on the caliber
or gunpowder, the bullet could have traveled anywhere between a few hundred yards up to a
mile.
That's why police are asking for help identifying anyone who was firing a high caliber gun
in southwest Albuquerque on Monday night.
Alyssa did undergo surgery to help repair the gunshot wound in her head and shoulder. She
remains in pediatric intensive care.
If you have any information about someone firing
a gun Monday, you’re asked to call 242-COPS.
Sleeping
Woman Shot In Leg 1/3/2005
http://www.krqe.com/video/expanded.asp?RECORD_KEY%5BVideo%5D=ID&ID%5BVideo%5D=1452
Celebratory bullets fired by Iraqis
into sky coming down on U.S. troops
http://www.estripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=16412&archive=true
By Scott Schonauer, Stars and Stripes
European edition, Sunday, August 17, 2003
Scott Schonauer / S&S
Spec. Christensen Cory, 23, a soldier with the 82nd Airborne Division, holds a bullet that
hit him in the forearm. The bullet was likely fired by an Iraqi in celebration left only a
welt that disappared in a few days.
BAGHDAD, Iraq — Army Spc. Christiansen Cory was talking with another soldier when he
felt something smack his forearm.
“We were standing around and heard a pssssst,” he said. “It felt just like
a big rock had been thrown at me.”
But when Cory looked down, he discovered it wasn’t a rock that hit him. At his feet
was a bullet from a Kalashnikov rifle. It was still warm.
The round likely came from an Iraqi who fired it into the air in celebration of a wedding,
the birth of a child, or, for nothing in particular.
Every day, sometimes several times an hour, an Iraqi somewhere in the capital is shooting
his rifle into the sky because he is happy about something. It is Iraqis’ version of
a party noisemaker.
The only problem is, what goes up must come down. And sometimes the bullets they fire into
the air fall and hit people.
Cory, a paratrooper with the 82nd Airborne Division, was lucky. The bullet left only a
welt that disappeared in a few days.
But for another soldier, a similar incident proved deadly.
Spc. James I. Lambert III, 22, of Raleigh, N.C. — assigned to the 1st Armored
Division — was killed on July 31 in Baghdad when a stray bullet fired by a
celebrating Iraqi struck him.
Lambert was standing outside around 7:30 p.m. when fate and the bullet suddenly hit him
square in the head. He was evacuated to the 28th Combat Support Hospital where he later
died of the wound, the Army reported.
While the odds of getting hit by a bullet fired straight into the air seem extraordinarily
remote, Iraqis have been killed by celebratory fire in the past. It was such a problem
when Saddam Hussein was in power that he banned it and threatened to have the police
arrest anyone caught doing it.
With Saddam now on the run, seemingly any family with a gun has brought back the trend.
Squeezing a few rounds over the rooftops is now vogue again in Baghdad and elsewhere in
the country.
When the news came out last month that U.S. forces killed Saddam’s sons Udai and
Qusai, the skies crackled with celebratory gunfire and lit up with tracer rounds from
elated Iraqis.
The popping sounds of rifles and pistols throughout the city were so intense that it
caught some U.S. soldiers off guard.
“At first, we didn’t know what the hell was going on,” Spc. Gerald Thomson
said. “We thought we were about to get overrun. Then, we found out they were just
celebrating.”
At some camps, some soldiers said that the bullets rained down onto the rooftops and
dinged Humvees. Some soldiers were ordered to stay in buildings or take cover. Troops had
to wear their Kevlar wherever they went — even on secured camps — until the
fireworks display ended and Iraqis had spent their jubilation ammunition.
In the confusion, some soldiers mistakenly shot partying, gun-toting Iraqis. However, some
servicemembers said that Iraqis took advantage of the celebratory fire and ensuing chaos
to take potshots at troops.
“It was pretty nuts,” Spec. Matt Gonzales said. “We saw tracer going
everywhere.”
The question many soldiers are asking is, what will the celebratory gunfire be like when,
and if, coalition forces capture or kill Saddam? Some are bracing for a torrent of happy
gunfire.
“It’s going to be crazy,” Gonzales said. “It’s going to be
haywire.”
Teen killed by stray bullet in back yard
http://www.azcentral.com/specials/special14/articles/1015coldcase15.html
Oct. 15, 2004 12:00 AM
The headline in the June 16, 1999, edition of The Arizona Republic read: Stray bullet
strikes, kills Phoenix girl.
The story began: A bullet fell from the sky Monday night and killed a "sweet and
bright and very decent young lady" who had just stepped into the back yard of her
central Phoenix home.
Shannon Smith, 14, was talking on a phone with a friend when she was struck in the head
and killed by what police say was a stray bullet from an unknown source.
When & Where
Smith's father found her just before 11 p.m. on June 14, 1999, in the back yard of their
home near Central Avenue and Camelback Road.
Summary
Shannon Smith, who would have entered Xavier College Preparatory in the fall, spent June
14, 1999, at home. From noon to 9 p.m., Shannon talked off and on with her best friend,
both on the phone and online. Between 9:15 and 9:30 p.m., Shannon was on the phone with
another friend when she said she heard what sounded like a "car accident or
something" out on Camelback Road. Shannon told her friend she was going to go out
into her back yard to see if she could see anything. She put her friend on hold and never
came back. The friend finally hung up around 10 p.m.
Shannon's father, Otis, had been watching television when he noticed the red light
flashing on the family room phone around 10:35 p.m. He went to her room to tell her to
hang up. He looked for Shannon inside the home before finding her outside, laying face up
in the grass, with a portable phone about three feet from her body.
Otis tried to revive his daughter with CPR until firefighters arrived. Shannon's mother,
Lory, rode in the ambulance with her to a nearby hospital.
The teen was pronounced dead less than an hour later.
"Oh my god, I can't believe she's dead," a distraught Lory Smith told Otis when
he arrived at the hospital.
A single bullet had struck Shannon on the top of her head. Police believe it was fired
straight up within a mile of Shannon's home. Several residents reported hearing gunfire
the night Shannon was killed, but no suspects ever emerged.
A year after Shannon's death, in July 2000, the Legislature enacted Shannon's Law, a
measure that makes firing a gun into the air a felony.
Investigator
Phoenix police Detective A.R. Scott.
New technology's role in this case
Police have the bullet that was removed from Shannon's brain during an autopsy. The
markings on the bullet would be unique to the gun it was fired from, believed to be one of
four models of 9mm semiautomatic handguns. Over the years, police have tested numerous
guns that have come into their property room. But none has been linked to the bullet.
How you can help
Call the Phoenix Police Department's General
Investigations Bureau at (602) 262-6141 and ask for Detective Scott, or call Silent
Witness at 1-800-343-TIPS.
- Judi Villa
Woman Shot At Wedding in Fort Worth Texas
Bullet Travels Through Roof, Strikes Brides Maid
http://www.nbc5i.com/
Maid Of Honor Takes Bullet During Bouquet Toss
POSTED: 8:55 am CDT May 3, 2006
UPDATED: 1:37 pm CDT May 3, 2006
Email This Story | Print This Story
FORT WORTH, Texas -- A North Texas bridesmaid was struck by a stray bullet while preparing
for the bouquet toss at her best friend's wedding reception.
Strange things are known to happen at weddings, but one North Texas woman has a story that
can top most after being struck by a stray bullet fired from more than a mile away.
Maid of Honor Kristin Campbell, who is an employee at NBC 5, was having a
great time at her best friend's wedding in Houston and was about to make a go for the
bouquet when she was shot.
"I didn't hear anything. I just knew I had a hole in my arm," said Campbell.
"It was painful, but it wasn't terrible, but it did feel like I was shot. There was
really no other way to describe it." |
 |
The bullet traveled far, more than a mile, and had lost most of its
power after smashing through the roof of the ballroom where the reception
was being held, NBC 5 reported.
The bullet fell out of Campbell's arm and onto the dance floor.
"Apparently, some man was upset and just fired his gun into the air about a mile away
from where we were. The bullet just came through the roof and into my arm," said
Campbell. "It's just a freak event."
For a few minutes after the shooting, no one could figure out what happened.
"I just was so shocked, how can she be hurt ... we didn't hear anything, we didn't
see anything, why would she just start bleeding?" said bridesmaid Elissa Winder.
The wound didn't bleed much and Campbell is making a full recovery.
Campbell said the person who fired the shot should be punished.
"I do think it was terribly reckless and there should be charges. But I'm fine, just
incredibly lucky and no one was badly hurt when they could have been," said Campbell.
Miami Residents Warned Not To Fire Guns 4th of July
http://www.miami.com/
Posted on Sat, Jul. 02, 2005
Don't fire guns, residents told
Local leaders are warning people to not celebrate July 4 by firing into the air because
stray bullets are dangerous and can kill when they fall back down.
BY ANNIE TASKER
atasker@herald.com
Celebrate the Fourth with fireworks, not firearms.
This is the message The Rickia Isaac Foundation, local clergy and politicians want to get
out in their ''No More Stray Bullets'' campaign.
''Hopefully, the day after the Fourth of July, we can say there was no shooting of stray
bullets,'' said Miami-Dade Commissioner Barbara Carey-Shuler.
People should celebrate the holiday peacefully, with picnics, parades and fireworks -- not
shooting guns into the air, community leaders said during a news conference Friday at
Overtown's Henry Reeves Park.
The campaign against stray bullets has special significance this year after 5-year-old
Melanise ''Neenee'' Malone was killed in the crossfire of an Opa-locka shooting this
spring. Earlier this week, 12-year-old Gladys Sanchez was shot in the head when a bullet
came through the window of her mother's car at a Little Havana gas station.
Carey-Shuler motioned toward the children on the nearby playground.
``These kids you see here playing in the park, we don't want to lose them. We want them to
grow up and be productive citizens.''
''This message is for every day,'' Carey-Shuler said. ``Stop shooting guns randomly.
Especially in communities where it happens too often.''
The Rickia Isaac Foundation is named after the 7-year-old girl who was shot in the head
and killed while on her way home from a Martin Luther King Day parade in 1997.
''There are other ways to celebrate,'' said the Rev. Jerome Starling, the slain child's
uncle and executive director of the foundation. ``On this Fourth of July eve, we want to
make sure we're very careful.''
Starling urged people to report celebratory gunfire to law enforcement by calling 911 or
Crime Stoppers.
''Remember that what goes up must come down,'' added Miami Police officer George Gomez.
Bullets travel at a speed of 480 feet per second, and when shots fired in the air come
down, they come down hard. Miami Police spokesman Delrish Moss said he has seen a round of
bullets shot in the air fall with enough force to penetrate the hood of a patrol car.
''They come down with a tremendous amount of force because of the speed,'' said Moss.
Miami-Dade Lt. Delma Noel-Pratt, a mother of three, pleaded with mothers and fathers to
put down their guns.
''We need to bring this community together rather than bring it apart,'' said Noel-Pratt.
Carey-Shuler said she has seen a decline in celebratory gunfire. A decade ago, some people
in Liberty City couldn't go to sleep the night of July 4 because of the sound of shots
being fired. In recent years, people have stayed inside -- or gone to church -- instead of
firing guns, she said.
In 1990, Los Angeles outlawed the sale of ammunition the week before New Year's Eve and
July 4 to prevent celebratory gunfire.
Added Carey-Shuler: ''Hopefully, this will become a
national message,'' said Carey-Shuler.
Bullet Lodges One Inch From Woman's Heart
Woman Survives Stray Bullet To Chest On New Year's Eve
Doctors Say Bullet Lodged 1/4 Inch From Heart
http://www.nbc6.net/news/5845403/detail.html
POSTED: 4:37 pm EST January 4, 2006
UPDATED: 6:16 pm EST January 4, 2006
Email This Story | Print This Story
DELRAY BEACH, Fla. -- Just as the New Year was about to begin, a woman celebrating in
Delray Beach nearly saw her life end. |
 |
It was 11:56 p.m. and Heather Leitch was about to toast 2006 when
she felt something was terribly wrong.
"My chest was just burning and I was thinking, 'Oh my gosh. What just happened?' And
I was thinking, 'Did I get hit with a Champagne cork?'" Leitch said.
But then Leitch noticed blood on her blouse and realized she'd been shot.
"I got really scared and I started thinking, 'Am I going to die sitting here?'"
Leitch said.
Leitch was one of two First Night revelers hit by stray bullets shot into the air on New
Year's Eve.
She was rushed to the hospital where doctors told her a bullet was lodged one-quarter of
an inch from her heart.
"He said, 'Did you play the lotto tonight?' And I said, 'I don't think so.' He said,
'Actually you did and you won.' He's right," she said.
The incident was the third time someone was injured by stray bullets on First Night in
Delray Beach.
Police said it's difficult to find the shooters but Mayor Jeff Perlman vowed to end the
reckless holiday tradition and get guns off the streets.
"It made my blood boil. It's outrageous," Perlman said. "It's a basic thing
you learn in school -- what goes up must come down, and people who think they can shoot
things into the air and think they're going to hit the man in the moon and not anyone on
the ground, it's ridiculous."
Perlman said he hopes the incident doesn't scare people from First Night.
"You can't alter your lifestyle because you got an irresponsible element out
there," Perlman said. "It's just like terrorist incidents. You still have to go
out and live your life."
Leitch would not say if she'll return next year. Right now, she's just focused on her
recovery.
"I wouldn't want it to happen to anyone," Leitch said. "It was horrible. It
was the scariest thing that's ever happened to me."
The second shooting victim wasn't as seriously hurt. A bullet grazed his head but didn't
penetrate his skull.
As for Leitch, she has a follow up with a trauma surgeon who will decide whether to remove
the bullet from her chest.
Woman's Bra Saves Her From
Bullet
Jan 05 3:22 PM US/Eastern
http://www.breitbart.com/news/2007/01/05/D8MFB7A02.html
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) -- One woman discovered on New Year's Eve that her bra could
do more than lift and support when a falling bullet was halted by the bra strap on her
left shoulder. Debbie Bingham, 46, an Atlanta resident visiting family in St. Petersburg,
said her gold bra slowed the falling bullet during the holiday celebrations.
Her injuries may have been much more severe had it not been for her bra strap, said George
Kajtsa, spokesman for the St. Petersburg Police Department. Bingham says she was outside
with her daughter and son, ringing in the New Year and viewing the local fireworks display
when she felt a sharp pain in her left shoulder at 11:40 p.m.
It was Bingham's daughter, Solanda Bingham, 30, who first noticed the blood seeping
through her mother's white shirt.
"We were sitting at the picnic table and listening to music and my mom said,
'Ow,'" the daughter said.
The daughter said she looked over and saw the blood and shouted "My mother's been
shot. My mother's been shot."
The bullet was halfway inside of Bingham's bra, and the other half barely breaking the
skin, Bingham later told WTSP-TV.
Someone had fired a gun into the air and as the .45-caliber bullet fell back to earth,
Bingham was struck. Kajtsa described the wound as a "big scratch with bruising."
Bingham was taken to Bayfront Medical Center in St. Petersburg where she was given five
stitches. The bullet was lodged into the bra tap was only removed when doctors intervened
and cut the bullet from the strap.
St. Petersburg police are still searching for the shooter to determine if Bingham was the
target of the gunfire or if she was simply in the wrong place at the wrong time, Kajtsa
said.
Shooting a weapon inside the city limits is a misdemeanor with a maximum fine of $1,000
and up to one year in jail, Kajtsa said. As for Bingham, she said she is just thankful for
her bra. "It was a very cheap bra. It wasn't very expensive, and I'd love to have a
couple more of those bras," she told WTSP.
More Interesting Info:
Man Killed During Klan Initiation - No Comment.
This picture isn't from the story, I just find it interesting.
http://www.cnn.com/2003/US/South/11/24/klan.initiation.ap/
Tuesday, November 25, 2003 Posted: 12:21 AM EST (0521
GMT)
JOHNSON CITY, Tennessee (AP) -- A bullet fired in the air during a Ku Klux Klan initiation
ceremony came down and struck a participant in the head, critically injuring him,
authorities said.
Gregory Allen Freeman, 45, was charged with aggravated assault and reckless endangerment
in the Saturday night incident that wounded Jeffery S. Murr, 24.
About 10 people, including two children, had gathered for the ceremony. The man who was
being initiated was blindfolded, tied with a noose to a tree and shot with paintball guns
as Freeman fired a pistol in the air to provide the sound of real gunfire, Sheriff Fred
Phillips said.
A bullet struck Murr on the top of the head and exited at the bottom of his skull,
authorities said.
Freeman fled the ceremony but was arrested near his home, authorities said. He was
released on $7,500 bail.
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