Question: where do bullets go shot in the air

title: Celebratory gunfire
text: July 1 , 2017 : A 13 - year - old boy , Noah Inman , was struck in his head and killed while playing basketball in the street . January 1 , 2017 : Armando Martinez , a Texas state Representative , was wounded in the head by a stray bullet during a New Year 's celebration . January 1 , 2015 : A 43 - year - old man , Javier Suarez Rivera , was struck in his head and killed while watching fireworks with his family in Houston . July 4 , 2013 : A 7 - year - old boy , Brendon Mackey , was struck in the top of his head and killed while walking with his father shortly before 9 p.m. amid a large crowd prior to the fireworks display over the Swift Creek Reservoir , outside Richmond , Virginia . January 1 , 2013 : A 10 - year - old girl , Aaliyah Boyer , collapsed after being struck in the back of the head while watching the neighborhood fireworks in Eklton , Maryland . She died two days later of her injuries . July 4 , 2012 : A 34 - year - old woman , Michelle Packard , was struck in the head and killed while watching the fireworks with her family . The police believe the shot could have come from a mile away . January 1 , 2010 : A four - year - old boy , Marquel Peters , was struck by a bullet and killed inside his church The Church of God of Prophecy in Decatur , GA . It is presumed the bullet may have penetrated the roof of the church around 12 : 20AM . In March 2008 , Chef Paul Prudhomme was grazed by a . 22 - caliber stray bullet while catering the Zurich Classic of New Orleans golf tournament . He at first thought a bee had stung his arm , required no serious medical attention , and within five minutes was back to cooking for the golf tournament . It was thought to have been a falling bullet . December 28 , 2005 : A 23 - year - old U.S. Army private on leave after basic training fired a 9mm pistol into the air in celebration with friends , according to police , one of the bullets came through a fifth - floor apartment window in the New York City borough of Queens , striking a 28 - year - old mother of two in the eye . Her husband found her lifeless body moments later . The shooter had been drinking the night before and turned himself in to police the next morning when he heard the news . He was charged with second - degree manslaughter and weapons - related crimes , and was later found guilty and sentenced to 4 to 12 years in prison . June 14 , 1999 : Arizona , A 14 - year - old girl , Shannon Smith , was struck on the top of her head by a bullet and killed while in the backyard of her home . This incident resulted in Arizona enacting `` Shannon 's Law '' in 2000 , that made the discharge of a firearm into the air illegal . December 31 , 1994 : Amy Silberman , a tourist from Boston , was killed by a falling bullet from celebratory firing while walking on the Riverwalk in the French Quarter of New Orleans , Louisiana . The Police Department there has been striving to educate the public on the danger since then , frequently making arrests for firing into the air . July 4 , 1950 : Bernard Doyle was killed in his seat while attending a New York Giants game at the Polo Grounds . The bullet was determined to have been fired by Robert Peebles , a juvenile , from an apartment building some distance away on Coogan 's Bluff , presumably in celebration of Independence Day .