Cape Girardeau man faces charges after shooting off a gun into the air to ‘bring in the New Year’

CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. (KBSI) – Cape Girardeau man gets arrested after shooting off a gun into the air to ‘bring in the New Year’.

According to the Cape Girardeau Police Department on January 1, 2025 around 12:00 am officers with the Cape Girardeau Police Department responded to the 100-Block of South Park Avenue in reference to shots fired.

Officers arrived on the scene and the first arriving officer observed a male subject enter a residence as he arrived.

Officers were able to locate the individual and he was identified as Stephen Magee age 35 of Cape Girardeau.

While speaking with Magee he admitted to officers that he was discharging a firearm to bring in the New Year.

During the course of the investigation, officers recovered approximately 80 shell casings from the scene.

There were no reports of injuries or property damage.

Magee was taken to the Cape Girardeau Police Department and later formally charged through the Cape Girardeau County Prosecutors Office for class B misdemeanor of unlawful use of a weapon.

Magee was issued a $7,500 cash/surety bond.

This marks the first arrest by the Cape Girardeau Police Department in reference to “Blair’s Law”.

“Blair’s Law” specifies that a person commits the offense of unlawful discharge of a firearm if, with criminal negligence, he or she discharges a firearm within or into the limits of a municipality. Any such person shall be guilty of a class A misdemeanor for the first offense, a class E felony for the second offense, and a class D felony for any third or subsequent offenses.