Kentucky does not have such a statute; the charge would be "Wanton Endangerment," but firing into the air wouldn't apply. If he fired at the ground near people then he could be charged with it. Does the Lexington urban-county government have a "reckless discharge" ordinance?
As for firing into the air, when the projectile starts coming back down, it will be doing so at free-fall speed, not the speed that it comes out of the firearm. If it hit someone on the head it would probably sting, but it would NOT be deadly or life-threatening. I am speaking of firing straight up; if you fired just a couple feet over someone's head then of course the bullet would only arch and could still come into contact with someone while moving at deadly velocities.
I do NOT condone firing a gun into the air. I also wouldn't want to kill someone unless I absolutely had to do so. This is a situation where you have to make split-second decisions, and that is what he did. Perhaps he didn't make the right one, but nobody was hurt and nobody died.
I charged somebody once for doing exactly this- firing into the air. Granted, this was in WA state. I charged him with Reckless Endangerment
RCW 9A.36.050
Reckless endangerment.
(1) A person is guilty of reckless endangerment when he or she recklessly engages in conduct not amounting to drive-by shooting but that creates a substantial risk of death or serious physical injury to another person.
(2) Reckless endangerment is a gross misdemeanor.
And yes, he was found guilty. At time of arrest, he gave the same defense I have seen in this thread, that a falling bullet would not be fatal. From what I've read here and elsewhere, it CAN be fatal, and certainly could cause a "substantial risk of serious physical injury" which is the element that needs to be proved for one to be found guilty of Reckless Endangerment in WA as per above.
And yes, in WA as in many other states, I can only arrest (custodially - as in booking) for CERTAIN misdemeanors if they are not committed in my presence (iow based on PC but not witnessed). Any misdemeanor *in* my presence is arrestable. Reckless Endangerment is NOT one of the listed misdemeanors I can arrest on PC based on statute AND "(1) Any police officer having probable cause to believe that a person has committed or is committing a misdemeanor or gross misdemeanor, involving physical harm or threats of harm" I don't think applies (subsection 1 of the misdemeanor presence rule exception) since I was not aware of any ACTUAL harm only POTENTIAL harm and not "Threat of harm" since that refers to actual threats thereof, not creating a risk thereof as I interpret it.
So, I released him at the scene with a criminal citation, since it's not "arrestable" (as in formal booking). I did seize his firearm. I had a COPS crew filming with me at the time. You could make an ARGUMENT it was "in my presence", since I HEARD one of the shots when I first approached, but didn't visually witness it. Maybe that would count as in my presence, but I didn't feel like making case law
so I figured citation was the safe bet
Unfortunately, he wouldn't sign a release so it wasn't aired. Believe it or not, when you see some guy on COPS making a fool of himself - he signed a release or else they can't air the episode!
