At least three people narrowly avoided injury in recent days after “celebratory gunfire” struck an Azusa swimming pool where a father and daughter were swimming on Tuesday evening, then another struck a moving car in Pasadena on Wednesday afternoon, authorities said.
A bullet apparently fired in celebration struck an above-ground swimming pool in the 200 block of East Roland Street as a man and his daughter were swimming in it between 5 p.m. and 8 p.m. on Independence Day, according to Azusa police Officer Mike Bires.
*Video: Azusa police discuss swimming pool shooting
Neither the man nor the girl, who was approximately 8 years old, were hurt, he said.
“This is why you do not shoot a firearm up into the sky during celebrations, like 4th of July or New Year’s Eve,” Bires said.
“A father and his daughter were in the pool yesterday for 4th of July,” the officer said. “If the had bullet struck the child or the father, someone would have innocently been murdered on a holiday… Why? It’s not worth it. Just don’t do it.
The homeowner did not realized what had happened until the next day, Bires said. The man was looking for the cause of a leak on Wednesday when he discovered the 9mm or .40-caliber bullet at the bottom of the pool.
In another incident blamed on celebratory gunfire, a woman was “shaken up” but uninjured after her car was struck by a falling bullet fire up into the air in Pasadena on Wednesday afternoon, police said.
The incident took place just after 5:45 p.m. as the woman was driving her Nissan Altima along the 800 block of Magnolia Street, Pasadena police Lt. Pete Hettema said.
A 9mm bullet plummeted from the sky and struck the roof of the car, the lieutenant said. The driver thought they were being attacked, before officers ultimately pieced together what had taken place.
The bullet dented the car’s roof and punched a small hole, but did not manage to penetrate through the body of the car, Hettema said. Police found the projectile sitting atop the car.
There was no sign of where the gunshot originated, he said. Bullets fired skyward can easily travel more than a mile before falling back to earth.