KC man comes less than an inch from being killed by celebratory gunfire on New Year’s

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KANSAS CITY, Mo -- A Kansas City couple left a New Year's Eve celebration early, thinking the roads would be dangerous after midnight.

They had no idea that the most dangerous place that night would be inside of their home.

Lisa Hoff and her boyfriend Frank were sleeping in their bed when a bullet ripped through the wall of their bedroom, coming just millimeters from hitting Frank.

"His head was right here, and it put a hole in our comforter. So evidently it came so close to us that it went through a comforter that was on his body," Hoff said, showing FOX4 the damage.

Hoff said neither she nor her boyfriend knew what happened until Wednesday morning.

Frank stepped on something hard when he got out of bed, which was the bullet. He noticed debris from the wall and found a bullet hole right above his head.

"Almost made me sick to my stomach. It really scared me to death," Hoff said. "I could've lost him."

It's just one of many close calls over the holiday from celebratory gunfire.

Between New Years Eve and New Years Day, KCPD said there were 317 shots fired calls, 200 gunfire alerts by the Shotspotter system, and in one incident alone, there were 51 shots fired. Police have received five property damage reports and expect that number to increase.

"I don't even know what to say. I mean, just how stupid," Hoff said. "I mean it wouldn't have just ruined our lives, it would ruin theirs, too."

Michele Shanahan DeMoss has been educating people about the dangers of celebratory gunfire since her daughter Blair Shanahan Lane was killed on the Fourth of July 8 years ago -- by a bullet shot in celebration about a mile away.

Shanahan DeMoss got emotional while watching a video of the celebratory gunfire this New Year's Eve.

"They don`t know where it went or what they did, and we are literally just lucky this morning that there are no deaths," Shanahan DeMoss said "I am begging people to stop firing their guns."

If people who shoot the guns won't stop, Shanahan DeMoss said it's the responsibility of the people around them to call the police.

"It's reckless and stupid. It's dumb. How else do you describe it?" Shanahan DeMoss said. "I mean other than showing you Blair's beautiful face and then the place I visit at Mount Moriah Cemetery it shouldn't be. She would be 20 years old this month, January 24. She deserves a chance and what and where and how, she deserves a chance. Because somebody made a foolish decision, she doesn't get that chance."

To shoot a gun off in Missouri is a misdemeanor, like a traffic ticket. Shanahan DeMoss is working with the state legislature to enact "Blair's Law," which would make it a felony to shoot off a gun.



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