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Miami, we talked about this yesterday. Firing your gun into the air to celebrate the Fourth of July is a very bad idea. Falling celebratory bullets have seriously injured multiple people in recent years, including two kids in separate instances.
But you didn't listen. In fact, you even found a new way to demonstrate why the Yosemite Sam routine is a terrible plan. Last night, someone fired a gun outside Bayside Marketplace, where thousands of people were partying, and it damn well nearly set off a panic.
The gunshots rang out sometime in the hour after fireworks ended, around 10 p.m. — just as a booming thunderstorm was rolling off the bay into downtown. Hordes of partygoers scrambled to get away as police swooped in.
"This is like out of a movie. Everyone started running and yelling," writes Reddit user Pistoleros, who posted about the scene. "People were jumping in the ocean calling for their kids and family members."
The Miami Police Department's Twitter chronicled the action:
MiamiPD is working a scene @bayside where shots were fired w/ NO gunshot injuries as of now. We have a subject detained + a found firearm.
— Miami PD (@MiamiPD) July 5, 2016
Update: shots fired were outside @Bayside on Biscayne Blvd. + Fireworks set off behind Bayside caused patrons to run. Units cleared area.
— Miami PD (@MiamiPD) July 5, 2016
Police quickly detained a man with a gun but soon realized he wasn't the one who had fired:
Subject detained with firearm was not involved. He was released. Two missing kids as a result of evacuation at Bayside have been recovered.
— Miami PD (@MiamiPD) July 5, 2016
Det. Frederica Burden says that no one was hit by the falling bullets and that police still haven't found whoever fired the gun.
"We have no suspects, and no victims were found," she tells New Times.
So just in case you needed another reason: Don't fire your damn gun in the air on holidays, Miami!
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