A Griffith man is facing charges after he was allegedly caught shooting a gun in the air on New Year’s Day.
Gerardo Cardenas, 39, was charged Feb. 14 with criminal recklessness committed with a deadly weapon, a Level 6 felony.
A court date is scheduled March 1.
Griffith Police responded 12:08 a.m. Jan. 1 to the 1000 block of Wheeler Street.
A witness said someone was shooting guns and the bullets were landing on their roof.
When cops arrived at Cardenas’ house, most of the crowd filed inside. Police found 15-20 casings on the ground.
Cardenas said he was shooting at the ground and “not doing anything illegal” because he was on “his property,” according to the affidavit. The cop told him he couldn’t fire the gun within town limits if he wasn’t defending himself.
He said cops were “singling him out” when there were other people shooting off guns, too. The officer said he had to deal with him first, but didn’t arrest him or take the gun, because he had to get to other calls that night and wanted to avoid another “confrontation” since most there had been drinking, court records state.
Noah Inman, 13, of Hammond was fatally shot in the head in 2017 while playing basketball at a family Fourth of July party by someone shooting a gun in the air. No arrests have been made.
mcolias@post-trib.com
