No more gunfire on New Year's Eve for this guy

YOUNGSTOWN

Jeffrey Southerland said Thursday he is changing the way he celebrates New Year’s Eve.

Just before he was to be sentenced in Mahoning County Common Pleas Court by Judge Lou A. D’Apolito on charges of being a felon in possession of a firearm and carrying concealed weapons after he was caught with three guns outside a South Side home late Dec. 31, Southerland said he will no longer ring in the New Year by firing off a couple of rounds into the air.

“I was trying to follow tradition and celebrate the new year,” Southerland said. “Next year, I’m going to get pots and pans.”

Police arrested Southerland, 36, of West LaClede Avenue, about 11:45 p.m. Dec. 31 when investigating several gunfire calls in the area of West Indianola and Chicago avenues on the South Side.

Read more about the case in Friday's Vindicator or on Vindy.com.