CHARLOTTE, N.C. — There was a frightening chain of events during the Fourth of July celebrations.
A couple in Plaza Midwood said a stray bullet hit their car shattering the glass. Fortunately, no one was inside at the time, but it highlights safety concerns about so-called ‘celebratory gunfire."
The couple believes the bullet had been fired up into the air and then landed on their car. Just hours earlier, they heard gunfire when they were right beside the vehicle.
For some, it’s easy to mistake the sound of fireworks with that of gunfire.
"I couldn’t believe it. I thought my eyes were playing tricks on me, my windshield had this huge tennis size hole," Madeleine Aseron said.
The couple said they made the discovery Sunday morning.
Just a few hours earlier, the two had gone out to see Fourth of July celebrations, in a socially distant way.
"We were driving around town because we wanted to catch some fireworks," Aseron said.
When the couple returned home around two in the morning, they heard gunfire in their Plaza Midwood neighborhood.
"He told me when the gunshots were going off and that’s when we decided to go inside," Aseron said.
Zac Wright said he suspected, and police confirmed, that the bullet had been fired up in the air before landing on the car.
"This indiscriminate celebratory fire is incredibly dangerous when the bullets go up they’re going to come down," Wright said.
"To think the bullet could have landed anywhere is really scary," Aseron said.
The couple said they regularly hear gunfire in their neighborhood.
"If we had been standing there, 100 percent it would have inflicted serious damage," Wright said.
The Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department said they don’t have any specific data about how often celebratory gunfire happens, but they say it’s dangerous and illegal.
In this case, the couple walking away unharmed, but with $400 in damage to the car.
"We’re very fortunate, it could have been worse," Wright said.
Police said they have not made any arrests in the case at this point.