South Florida Leaders Strive for ‘No More Stray Bullets'

The last death from stray New Year's Eve gunfire in the City of Miami happened in 1997.

For the 16th year in a row, community leaders are asking holiday revelers to refrain from shooting stray bullets into the air.

Miami Mayor Tomas Regalado, Miami and Miami-Dade police officers and others gathered in Northwest Miami-Dade for a "No More Stray Bullets" press conference.

"The Miami Police Department is not against celebration, we're against people celebrating with guns," said Assistant Miami Police Chief Jorge Gomez.

Stray bullets from guns fired celebrating the New Year kill people every year around the country. But that statistic has changed in Miami in the last 2 years with the city's gun buyback program.

"In 2013 we have been able to get 600 weapons off the streets from the City of Miami," Regalado said. "We have partnered with the private sector and we've been buying guns."

And they'll take the guns back no questions asked.

The city is striving to avoid tragedies like the death of 5-year-old Rickia Isaac, the last person killed by a stray bullet on New Year's Eve in Miami in 1997.

"We've got to be able to celebrate responsibly," said event organizer Jerome Starling.

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