Celebratory gun fire hits Bradenton home

A Bradenton woman is fortunate to be alive, after celebratory gunfire on Saturday, July 4, pierced the roof of her home and the bullet landed on her couch.

"I heard this big, 'Pow! Pow! Pow!'" said Nadine Moreno. "I thought it was people doing fireworks."

The sound came from gun shots near her home in the 600 block of 21st Way East in the Manatee Trailer Park.

Moreno said she did not find the .40 caliber bullet in her home until Sunday morning. It landed in the same spot on her couch where she normally sits and reads each night.

"I guess everyone has an angel. Something told me, 'Don't sit there,'" said Moreno. She chose to leave her home Saturday night to go to a July Fourth festival. "It was dangerous. I guess God didn't want me to go that day," said Moreno.

Bradenton Police do not believe Moreno was targeted. They said the shots were likely fired during a holiday celebration, which officers warn residents not to do year-after-year.

"People don't realize what goes up, must come down," said Captain William Fowler of the Bradenton Police Department. "July Fourth and especially New Year's Eve you have the celebratory gunfire."

Moreno said she hopes her situation will serve as a reminder to people to stop the senseless shooting during the holidays.

"When you're shooting, it's going to go somewhere. It's going to come down somewhere. It can be your family. It can be anyone in the neighborhood. Think before you shoot," said Moreno.

Random firing of a gun in public is a misdemeanor in Florida.

Bradenton Police do not have a suspect in the shooting at this time.