Photo: Getty Images
ByBria Bolden |Published:Jul. 5, 2021 at 11:36 PM EDT
SAVANNAH, Ga. (WTOC) - Police urge people every year around the Fourth of July not to fire guns in celebration. A Savannah family woke up to a frightening sight Monday morning. They say they found their car had been hit by gunfire. The McGaws believe this was celebratory gunfire.
But they say the scariest thing about this incident is that their children could’ve been in the car. It’s the last thing you’d want to see after celebrating just the day before.
“This morning my husband and I woke up, walked outside and saw a bullet hole straight through our van,” said Diana McGaw.
Diana McGaw and her family live in the Baldwin Park neighborhood. She believes celebratory gunfire from people celebrating is to blame.
“So you can see the bullet entered in through the back of the van and it actually hit this headrest. This is where my six-year-old normally sits so her head would’ve been right here and my four-year-old son’s shirt was placed there and you can see a bullet hole right through his shirt. And then the bullet went through the van and exited through the front of the windshield there,” said McGaw.
Alderman Detric Leggett who represents District Two says things like this are unacceptable and he won’t tolerate it.
“If we catch you doing those types of things. Ill-advised firing your weapons in the sky and just doing something that just don’t make sense. We will prosecute you to the full extent of the law,” said Leggett.
McGaw says it’s going to take hundreds of dollars to fix the damage. She has a message for those thinking about firing a gun to celebrate.
“Go Enjoy yourself. Have fun. Shoot off fireworks. Keep your guns inside. Keep them locked up. There’s no reason to shoot guns. Now we have to deal with this. We have to pay our deductible on our insurance. It’s a hassle. And it’s really scary because one of our children could’ve been sitting in that car. You can kill somebody. Somebody could’ve gotten killed,” said McGaw.
The McGaws have filed a police report with Savannah Police. WTOC has requested a copy of the report from SPD. WTOC is still waiting to hear how many incidents like this may have occurred over the holiday weekend.
WTOC has not independently verified that it was celebratory gunfire.
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