This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2014, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
A man was arrested about 10:30 Friday night after he allegedly shot up his own yard because he was aggravated about the noise from neighbors' fireworks.
The 51-year-old suspect allegedly got into a fight with his wife about the fireworks that were being ignited around his house in Provo, said Provo police Lt. Mathew Siufunua.
The suspect's wife was worried that his shouting would wake her sister's children, who were asleep in their house near 1200 West and 500 North, and she asked him to keep it down. The suspect, who police say was intoxicated, allegedly replied he would "give her a show" and brandished his Colt 1911 .45 caliber handgun, Siufunua said.
"It was a big gun," Siufunua added.
The suspect allegedly pointed the gun at his wife's head, then at his own, before going outside into the yard and firing multiple rounds into the ground. When he came back inside to reload, the police were called, Siufunua said.
Provo police arrested the suspect without incident and booked him into Utah County Jail on suspicion of aggravated assault in the presence of children, Siufunua said.
Provo bans loud fireworks between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m., and at the shooting suspect was not the only Provo resident upset by the late-night blasts.
"We get noise complaints all night long," Siufunua said of the fireworks ignited during Pioneer Day-related celebrations.
Asked whether complainers often get so fed up they fire off their guns, Siufanua said, "No, they do not."
Twitter: @Harry_Stevens