Florida Sheriff Warns Floridians: “Don’t Shoot at Hurricane Irma”

Saturday evening, the Pasco County Sheriff’s office took to Twitter to issue a clear and direct warning, “do not shoot weapons at Irma.” The Sheriff’s office went on to explain the obvious, that shooting the hurricane “won’t make it turn around & it will have very dangerous side effects.
To clarify, DO NOT shoot weapons @ #Irma. You won't make it turn around & it will have very dangerous side effectshttps://t.co/CV4Y9OJknv
— Pasco Sheriff (@PascoSheriff) September 10, 2017
The seemingly self explanatory warning seemed aimed at a Facebook event that has captured the public’s attention, titled “Shoot Guns At Hurricane Irma,” with over 45,000 people listed as “interested” in the event. One line of the description of the event reads, “let’s show Irma that we shoot first.” By the time Hurricane Irma started to cross the Keys, more than 54,000 people had signed up for the Facebook event Shoot at Hurricane Irma.
Ryon Edwards, a bored 22 year old, created the event as a novel way of amusing himself during the extreme weather phenomenon. In the days since Mr. Edwards Facebook event has gone viral, other similar pages have popped up including one suggesting the use of flame throwers to scare away the storm.
However it is not all fun and games, the Pasco County Sheriff’s office is taking the event seriously, warning of the grave threat and potentially bodily harm that stray bullets can cause as they return under the pull of the hurricane speed winds. In response to the media attention regarding the Facebook event, Pasco County Sheriff Chris Nocco told USA Today that “over 99% of the people out there have common sense and are listening, but we in law enforcement deal with the 1%, so we are trying to get the message to them.”
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Summary
Saturday evening, the Pasco County Sheriff's office took to Twitter to issue a clear and direct warning, "do not shoot weapons at Irma." The Sheriff's office went on to explain the obvious, that shooting the hurricane "won't make it turn around & it will have very dangerous side effects. The seemingly self explanatory warning seemed aimed at a Facebook event that has captured the public's attention, titled "Shoot Guns At Hurricane Irma," with over 45,000 people listed as "interested" in the event. One line of the description of the event reads, "let's show Irma that we shoot first." By the time Hurricane Irma started to cross the Keys, more than 54,000 people had signed up for the Facebook event Shoot at Hurricane Irma.