ST. LOUIS COUNTY, Mo. — William Mason and his wife were ready to kick off 2024 by heading to the casino.
The two live in St. Louis County, not too far from the River City Casino.
"Ever since it's opened we've been going to River City Casino. We like it because it's close and maybe that's not good money-wise," Mason said with a chuckle.
The duo arrived to the casino on New Year's Eve around 10:45 p.m. and parked the car outside.
"We did the Happy New Year thing and we decided to spend more money," Mason said. "We were both happy we won money and we were ahead money-wise. Around 1:30 we came outside and my wife got on her side and she said, 'Your windshield is cracked.' I went, 'Oh my God, it's a bullet' and I was more shocked than she was. I think it was from celebrating and shooting guns. When I was at the casino, I heard a lot of gunfire."
Mason filed a police report. He said police told him a 9 mm bullet struck and was wedged in his windshield.
"The back entrance of River City, there is a bridge right there. Police told me they were under the bridge because they didn’t want to be hit by gunfire," he added.
Now, he has to pay out of pocket.
"I'm seeing ballpark $500 or more," he said.
It's more than money for Mason; he has a message.
"Don't shoot guns in the air because I think this probably was a gunshot in the air and landed in my windshield. That can land anywhere, on anybody, or anything, so I would not shoot guns to celebrate anything," Mason added.
While his luck was tested at the casino, he's still feeling lucky.
"I'm very grateful we were not in the car, that's the main thing," he said. "I don't know, it could've hit her or me and we are grateful we are alive and well."
Due to the holiday, the St. Louis County Police Department couldn't share numbers on Monday on the number of shooting calls it received. Police said more details would be available on Tuesday.
St. Louis City's Real Time Crime Center couldn't give 5 On Your Side an accurate number of "shots fired" calls in the city, but we're told its ShotSpotter technology stopped counting after 1,000.
River City Casino & Hotel spokesperson shared this statement:
First and foremost, the safety of our patrons and team members is our top priority at River City Casino, and we utilize numerous policies and procedures to ensure that we can provide a safe and secure environment at our facility. While we are sorry to hear that a patron’s car was damaged, our security personnel reviewed the parking lot surveillance footage and I can confirm that there were no shots fired on our property over the New Year’s Eve and Day celebrations.