Mother warns about celebratory gunfire after bullet pierces through West End Atlanta home

Celebratory gunfire pierces family's West End home

A mother is warning about the dangers of celebratory gunfire after a bullet flew through a window and multiple walls, landing inches from her family inside her West Side Atlanta home.

ATLANTA - A mother is warning about the dangers of celebratory gunfire after a bullet flew through a window and multiple walls, landing inches from her family inside her West Side Atlanta home.

What they're saying:

Shari Woods said she and her family are traumatized after a bullet entered her home minutes after midnight on New Year’s Day. Woods said she, her mother and her 11-year-old son went outside just before the New Year to watch fireworks but then started hearing gunfire.

"I would say about 5–10 minutes in, it was just crazy," Woods said. "You could just really tell that there was more gunfire than there were fireworks at that point."

The family then went inside and sat on the couch. Not long after, Woods said they heard a window break and dropped to the floor. Once they got up, Woods said they realized a bullet had entered through a window and pierced multiple walls before landing in a lotion bottle located inches from the couch.

"Those bullets have somewhere that they have to go," Woods said. "They're not going to stop in thin air, so if you're going up, it’s coming down, and we have to stop this rhetoric that you need to hear a loud bang by a bullet."

Woods filed a report with Atlanta Police to document the incident. She said she hopes sharing her story will get people to think twice about shooting rounds into the air to celebrate.

What we don't know:

The exact caliber of the bullet found inside Woods’ home is not known. It’s also not known where the shot originated.

What's next:

Woods said her children have not returned to the home since the incident. "My son is pretty traumatized from it," she said. "I likely will need to find somewhere else to live."