Meridian police officers are working to educate the public on firearm safety after a burglary investigation on Dec. 12 led to confusion about shots being fired.

 

In a press conference Thursday, Police Chief Deborah Naylor Young said

 

“The safety concerns are that as we are approaching this holiday season, with the new year coming in, we know that it is against the law to shoot fireworks as well as guns in the city limits,” she said.

 

Body camera footage from the burglary incident at Morgans LLC, a trucking company on Sellers Drive, show a man pull up in a white SUV and speak to the officer prior to firing three shots into the air. MPD records show Oscar Morgan was arrested and charged with shooting in the city.

 

Young said the shooting, while illegal, also created confusion for officers responding to the burglary and made the situation unsafe for both her officers and the public. Other officers hearing the shots feared their colleague had been shot, she said.

 

“So it caused a lot of safety concerns because it endangered the lives of citizens, it endangered the lives of law enforcement, it endangered vehicles that were traveling up and down that roadway there,” she said.

 

It will be up to a judge how best to move forward with the shooting in the city charge, Young said.