APD: Man Fires Celebratory New Year's Gunshots, Hits Sleeping Neighbor

APD: Man Fires Celebratory New Year’s Gunshots, Hits Sleeping Neighbor

(CREDIT: Google Maps)

Aurora police have charged a man with reckless conduct after he fired celebratory New Year’s gunshots and endangered the lives of his neighbors, when one of the bullets entered a nearby home and seriously injured a man.


According to an Aurora Police Department news release, officers responded shortly after midnight Wednesday to the 1600 block of Fredericksburg Lane for an emergency call saying a man who had been shot in the abdomen while he was sleeping.

The man told responding officers that he saw what appeared to be a bullet hole in his wall.

Aurora Fire Department paramedics transported the man to an area hospital in serious condition.

Officers were able to determine the apparent trajectory of the round, which indicated the shots were fired from somewhere in the 2300 block of Grand Pointe Trail.

(CREDIT: Google Maps)

When officers began searching the neighborhood, they found multiple shell casings outside of a home.

Residents told officers that someone was hosting a New Year’s Eve party at the time of the incident, and multiple people reported hearing what sounded like loud pops.

Officers received consent from the homeowner and searched the house and vehicles in the driveway. During the search, officers found a handgun in one of the cars.

Investigators determined the handgun belonged to 48-year-old Miguel Reyes, of the 1600 block of Fredericksburg Lane in Aurora. Reyes admitted to detectives that he fired multiple rounds from the gun at midnight. Officers found and recovered more than 30 shell casings from outside of the home.

Reyes was arrested and subsequently charged with the following:

  • One count of Reckless Discharge, a Class 4 felony.
  • One count of Reckless Conduct, a Class 4 felony.

Charges are not proof of guilt. Reyes is presumed innocent and is entitled to a fair trial at which it is the burden of the state to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.

SOURCE: Aurora Police Department news release