It’s somewhat common — though illegal — for guns to be fired to mark the start of a new year.

At least seven people have been shot, two of them fatally, by celebratory New Year’s gunfire in metro Atlanta since 2000. The victims range in age from an 86-year-old woman in Buckhead to a four-year-old boy who died after being hit by a stray bullet during a New Year's Eve service at his DeKalb church.

» GET THE FULL STORY: Learn more about the victims on MyAJC.com

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Julian Conley listens during opening statements in his trial at Fulton County Superior Court in Atlanta on Wednesday, Sept. 17, 2025. The 25-year-old is accused of fatally shooting 8-year-old Secoriea Turner in July 2020. (Abbey Cutrer/AJC)

Credit: abbey.cutrer@ajc.com