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Celebratory gunfire on New Year’s Eve sends bullet into family’s bed
What deputies described as celebratory gunfire ringing out at midnight on New Year’s Eve turned into a near-fatal incident for a Volusia County family after bullets tore through their home, including one that landed beneath a pillow where parents and their young child were sleeping.
DELAND, Fla. - Three people are facing potential charges after they allegedly celebrated the New Year by shooting more than 30 rounds in their backyard, according to the Volusia County Sheriff's Office.
Most of those rounds were apparently fired into the ground. At least five of those rounds hit a nearby house, including one that went through the bedroom wall where a family and their 7-year-old child were sleeping, the sheriff's office said.
What we know:
Shortly after midnight on New Year's Day, deputies responded to a neighborhood in DeLand, Florida, after neighbors reported hearing gunfire.
A neighbor told deputies that he saw a man and woman firing a gun towards the ground, while a third man was seen reloading the gun.
Across the street, a couple and their child were attempting to sleep when they heard the gunshots – and plaster suddenly exploded from the wall.
Deputies said at least five stray bullets had hit their house and one went through the exterior and through the interior wall.
Axel Gomez, 21, of DeLeon Springs, was arrested and booked into jail on a charge of shooting into an occupied dwelling. According to the arrest affidavit, he had purchased the gun a week prior.
Gomez was celebrating the New Year with his sister, Amy Gomez, , 25, and her boyfriend, Ken Newbold, 25. Both Amy Gomez and Newbold were charged with recklessly discharging a firearm in a residential area.
Axel Gomez told deputies he fired his gun into the ground, but denied firing into the air or towards any houses. He said he was wearing ear protection, but heard a neighbor yelling. He said that's when they stopped shooting and left to get groceries.
All three told deputies that they were unaware that it was illegal to fire a gun in a residential area without proper acreage or without a backstop, according to the arrest affidavit.
‘Almost felt like a warzone’
That's how one man described what it sounded like shortly after midnight as gunfire was happening outside their bedroom and in their neighborhood.
"Almost felt like a warzone between 12 a.m. and 12:15 a.m.," the dad said.
"I didn't know what was happening. I didn't know where it was coming from. When I turned on the lights, the bullet was there on the bed, by the pillow area. I picked it up, and it was super hot," the mom said.
She told FOX 35's Chancelor Winn on Thursday that the entire situation hasn't really sunk in yet, especially how close that bullet was to their heads, where they were sleeping.
At the time, both were not yet comfortable sleeping in their bedroom.
Prior to New Year's Eve, law enforcement across Florida – and across the country – issued warnings about celebratory gunfire – and to avoid it.
In 2024, Carmen Rosa Neira Ochoa was watching fireworks from the porch of her home in Kissimmee when she was hit by a stray bullet. She died at the hospital. Carlos Manuel Tejada, 44, was arrested and booked into jail related to Ochoa's death.
That same year, a 10-year-old girl in Miami was killed after she was hit by celebratory gunfire, police said.
The Source: The Volusia Sheriff's Office posted about the incident on its Facebook page on Thursday, Jan. 1. FOX 35's Chancelor Winn talked to the homeowners. Additional information came from the arrest affidavit for Axel Gomez.