NOT FIREWORKS, BUT GUNFIRE: 4th of July party in Cape Coral turns violent

A day of fireworks turned into gunfire at a 4th of July celebration a Cape Coral apartment complex.

Austin Schargorodski

When Dominic Amoroso came home from a night out with his wife on Thursday, he said what he saw was eerie.

"We turn the corner and see eight cop cars where we live in the complex, so we were leery - obviously it's something serious if there are that many cops," Amoroso said.

Austin Schargorodski

Cape Coral Police were called to the apartment complex on SW 47th Street for reports of gunshots. They say the first officers there found a chaotic scene with more than 50 people.

Police say witnesses told them a man named Jarred Daniel Hill had been drinking and wanted to shoot his rifle into the air, but they stopped him.

“Luckily, because that also could have ended with somebody getting hurt or killed,” said Mercedes Simonds, Cape Coral Police Department’s Public Affairs Officer.

Austin Schargorodski

Police say someone at the party took the gun away from Hill, but he got mad and started a fight.

"He was verbally and physically aggressive. There was a physical altercation that also ensued," Simonds said. "Then, the person said they turned around and saw that this man had a black handgun pointed at them. So, they quickly tried to shut the door and then he fired a round. It missed that person, luckily."

Police say there was some damage to a door frame. When officers got to the apartment, they said they took the handgun and the rifle. Police tell Fox 4 Hill wouldn’t cooperate when they tried to arrest him.

"He was just resisting, he wouldn't give them their hands," Simonds said. "There was a struggle that ensued, but they luckily got him under arrest without anyone getting hurt and took him to jail."

Hill was charged with aggravated assault with a weapon, battery, and resisting an officer without violence.

"He was drinking, wasn't thinking, and that's not good," Amoroso said.