What goes up, must come down

BASTROP — New year celebrations in Bastrop hospitalized one resident with an unexpected gunshot wound.

This year, The Bastrop County Sheriff’s Office received 47 calls for service concerning celebratory gunfire. The increase in reports is common for the holiday, as locals fire into the air without concern for the outcome, according to the office.

At 12:14 a.m., Jan. 1, operators received a call from the Riddle Road area reporting that an individual had been shot outside his residence, according to Sheriff Maurice Cook.

The investigating deputies found that the person received a gunshot wound to the upper part of his back, in the neck area.

The bullet appeared to have dropped out of the sky, indicating it was from a celebratory gun shot that was aimed upwards, according to the deputies. There was no gunfire in the immediate area.

The victim was treated at a hospital and released, but the outcome could have been much worse, according to the Sheriff.

“This is an unfortunate but great example of why a firearm should never be fired indiscriminately into the air, since the bullet must come down and cannot be predicted, making the person firing the gun subject to criminal prosecution,” said Cook.

Bullets fired upwards at an angle can begin tumbling and maintain speeds of several hundred miles-per-hour, according to a study conducted by Forbes. While only a fraction of the speed of a standard gun shot, this is still enough to break skin and potentially be lethal.

Celebratory gunfire is illegal in Texas cities with a population greater than 100,000, a misdemeanor crime punishable by up to $4,000 and one year in jail.