Some Revelers Heed Pleas About Gunfire

Police efforts to wipe out the tradition of firing guns into the air to usher in the new year fell short Monday night as gunfire erupted on cue in some areas of the Southland.

But in Los Angeles at least, the number of complaints of random gunfire dropped from 650 last year to 528, and the number of people arrested on gun-related charges fell to 60 from 98 last New Year’s Eve, according to preliminary police reports. The number of weapons confiscated dropped from 112 to 98, officials said.

Despite the decreases, however, all but one of the Los Angeles Police Department’s divisions reported some holiday-related gunfire. Two people were injured by stray bullets in separate incidents.

A third stray bullet dropped from the sky and struck the door of a police car in which two sergeants were sitting. Neither was injured.

In another New Year’s shooting incident, a father and son who allegedly were firing guns outside their Rampart-area home at 12:05 a.m. Monday were shot and wounded by officers who came upon them. The officers, who were not injured, thought they were being fired upon, according to authorities.

On New Year’s Eve in 1988, the worst on record, the Los Angeles Police Department received 1,247 calls about random gunfire and two people were killed.

On Monday at the LAPD’s Southeast Division, which in years past has had numerous reports of gunfire on New Year’s Eve, a watch commander said there was a marked decrease this year.

Sgt. Al Landry reported 75 gunfire complaints, nine arrests and 12 weapons seized. Last New Year’s Eve, he said, the station answered twice as many complaints about random shooting, three times as many people were arrested on gun charges and officers confiscated three times as many weapons.

“Oh, it’s much better” this year, Landry said.

The worst incident resulted in four families at the Nickerson Gardens housing project losing electrical power overnight because bullets had severed a power line, Landry said.

A state law makes firing into the air a misdemeanor that can be upgraded to a felony. The maximum penalty upon conviction is a one-year jail sentence.

In recent years, the LAPD and other area police departments have mounted aggressive campaigns to end celebration by gunfire, pointing out to normally law-abiding residents that bullets that are shot into the sky must come down somewhere, often injuring people blocks away.

In Santa Ana, which in past years has led Orange County in random holiday shooting reports, officers last month passed out 8,000 fliers in English, Spanish and Vietnamese, and even asked diplomats from the Mexican Consulate to urge immigrants from Mexico to find a safer way to celebrate.

Los Angeles’ campaign to end the tradition began in 1989 when officials became alarmed that as many as six people had been killed by random gunfire on the three previous New Year’s Eves. Police then announced a crackdown on holiday shooters, promising they would be charged with felonies if caught. Police also urged residents to report the illegal firing of guns.

The following year, Los Angeles became the first city in the country to ban the sale of ammunition the week before New Year’s Eve and Independence Day, when revelers also often shoot guns into the air.

In 1993, two weeks before the holiday, officials supported a concert-tickets-for-guns campaign launched by Ticketmaster. Residents were asked to take their guns to local churches where they could be exchanged for tickets to see performers such as pop singer Janet Jackson.

As a result of these efforts and what one officer called the “general education of the public,” the number of random New Year’s Eve shootings has dropped from the 1988 level. The biggest decrease came in 1991, when only 265 reports were logged.

Some officers believe that some of the increase in gunfire complaints since then may be because people are more aware of the danger of firing into the air and are more willing to complain to police.

This New Year’s Eve the LAPD assigned 612 extra officers overnight to monitor the shooting. When the sun came up, the LAPD’s Northeast station was the only precinct that had not reported a gunfire call, gun-related arrest or seized weapon.

The two people reported injured by stray bullets were a young girl who suffered a wound to the leg and a man who was hit in the arm while standing outside his home in the Hollenbeck area.

In the police shooting of the father and son, Sebastion Delgado, 51, and Demetrio Delgado, 18, were struck in leg and arm, respectively, after three officers on foot came upon the pair firing guns, said Det. Mike Schwehrn.

The officers fired a total of 24 shots at the Delgados, he said.

The father and son were arrested after they ran into their home, Schwehrn said. They were later booked in the jail ward of County-USC Medical Center on suspicion of assault. A third man who was found uninjured in the home with them was booked on charges of negligently firing a firearm into the air.

While police were tallying the damage from the New Year’s Eve shootings, the California Highway Patrol assessed the toll from holiday traffic accidents in Los Angeles County.

Five people were killed in the first 60 hours of the three-day weekend, the CHP reported. Last year during the same period, seven people were killed in accidents, CHP spokesman Frank Sandoval said.

The reporting period was from 6 p.m. Friday to 6 a.m. today and includes accidents investigated by other police departments as well as those within the CHP’s jurisdiction.

Statewide, traffic accidents claimed 26 lives, one fewer than last year, Sandoval said.

CHP officers also arrested 273 motorists in the county for driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol, up from the 248 arrests last year, Sandoval said.

The CHP statewide arrested 1,291 people, up from last year’s 1,149 arrests, Sandoval said.