Yuma local raises awareness of stray bullets before Fourth of July
Manoah Tuiasosopo
YUMA, Ariz. (KYMA, KECY) – Ahead of this Fourth of July, a Yuma woman is bringing attention to the hidden dangers of shooting into the sky.
We share her reason why and how the Yuma Police Department (YPD) is doubling down.
Just seconds into New Year’s celebrations this year, Day Alyssa Duran says she was hanging out in front of home on 1st Avenue and 28th Street in Yuma, celebrating with her friends and family, when a bullet came from up above and struck her.
Duran says “As I looked toward the church, I was struck with a bullet in my left shoulder, and it felt so painful.”
Just inches away from her head, the bullet remains lodged in her shoulder til this day.
Duran says she’s still recovering physically and emotionally, “I’m going through counseling and therapy right now to gain more confidence in myself and I also have to do physical therapy.”
She says that she nearly lost her life as a result of someone’s reckless behavior while celebrating a holiday.
“Do not aim at the sky because the bullet will go somewhere, and it can harm somebody, and it can take someone’s life, at any moment. You could’ve ended my children’s, my son’s, my brother’s, or my fiancé’s life. And luckily I’m here and I’m alive,” Duran shared.
In Arizona, Shannon’s Law makes unlawfully discharging a firearm within city limits a class 6 felony.
It’s named after Shannon Smith, a 14-year-old girl from Phoenix who was killed by a stray bullet on New Year’s Eve in 1999.
YPD assures the public that these bullets have no name.
Officer Hayato Johnson with YPD states “What goes up in the air must go down and most of the time it hits something whether that be a person, someone’s vehicle, or someone’s house.”
YPD says there’s little evidence to trace where these bullets come from once the land.
They ask the public to call in immediately if they have any suspicion of shots being fired.
“We don’t want it to be where everyone has to be inside their homes watching fireworks from a window because they’re scared of their neighbor firing shots into the air and possibly getting hit with a bullet,” Officer Johnson explained.
Duran she hopes that one day they can remove that bullet from her shoulder in hopes that they can try and trace where that bullet came from.