Celebratory gunfire believed to be source of bullet that whizzed past sleeping Houston mom, son

HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) -- "A warzone" is what Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner compared the city to - citing Fourth of July "celebratory" gunfire and fireworks.

One mother, who asked ABC13 to withhold her name, said her northwest Houston home certainly felt like it this holiday.

The woman explained that she and her 21-year-old son were lying in bed after a long day at the beach. He was watching television, and she was sleeping.

"I heard a pop," she said in Spanish.

That "pop" was a gunshot. The bullet whizzed past their bed and was lodged into a wall.

"I was very scared. I could not go back to sleep because I kept thinking about the bullet hitting the house, knowing that it could have hit us in the head," she said.

The woman believes it was the result of celebratory gunfire. She told ABC13 it is something the family often hears around holidays.

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"I would like for it to be safer," she explained.

Turner expressed the same desire in a Fourth of July press conference. He authorized additional patrols for Houston police to crack down on the so-called celebratory gunfire.

"Please, please, I'm asking you in the nicest way I know how - put your guns down," he said.

Turner said first responders are "jammed" with calls about the celebratory gunfire on and around holidays.

ABC13 asked the Houston Police Department how many calls were made for celebratory gunfire this Fourth of July. They said they were still compiling numbers on July 5.

Nearly 400 calls were made about celebratory gunfire on New Year's Eve 2022.

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