The dangers of celebratory gunfire

SOUTH BEND, Ind. -- Despite pleas from police to not fire off guns as a way to ring in the new year, South Bend Police Department radio traffic was non-stop New Year's Eve with dozens of calls about shots being fired.

St. Joseph County Surveyor, Derek Dieter, sits on the northwest side of South Bend nearly every New Year's Eve to record the gun shots fired off at the turn of the year.

This year, he counted more than 350 gunshots, some coming from automatic or semi-automatic weapons.

Police say a bullet shot into the sky can travel two miles upward, remain in the air for more than a minute, and then reach a velocity of 300 to 700 feet per second as it falls to the ground. It only takes 200 feet per second for a bullet to kill someone.