Happy New Ye- BANG BANG BANG! (NYE horror)

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
1

Last night (New Years Eve) we had not much planned. Some friends were coming over at 7:30 to watch movies or play games, hadn’t really decided which. Around 7:20 the wife and I were sitting down watching TV when we heard several bangs.

“I’d forgotten there’d be fireworks,” I said. “I wonder who’s got them?” I looked out the window and heard a girl screaming in what I thought was excitement. Then I saw the body on the ground.

I assumed there’d been a fireworks accident. I was wrong. Someone was murdered across the street from my house.

I don’t know many details. All night long the police were out there. The victim was taken away in an ambulance, but he died - either on the scene or at the hospital. The police asked what we’d heard or seen (not much except the gunfire, which we thought was fireworks at the time) as did a news reporter. Here’s how a local news site is reporting it:

http://www.wcia.com/_news/default.asp?mode=shownews&id=1119

I don’t think the person lived across the street - those are rental properties and I think he may have been just visiting someone there. As the report says, they have no motive and don’t know if the shooter even knew the victim. They didn’t catch the shooter. So far it looks completely random. Ten minutes later and perhaps it could have been my friends coming over (they didn’t come over - fortunately they hadn’t left yet). I’d had a mind to put the recycling out last night so I wouldn’t have to do it this morning, so it might even could have been me.

This isn’t a bad neighborhood. This area has a bad reputation, but that’s mostly because it’s mostly (whispers) black. We’ve been living in this house for 3.5 years and have had no problems at all with anyone - it’s largely retired older people and a few rental properties.

They say whatever you’re doing on New Year’s Eve is how your year will go - in that case I’m in for a year of confusion, fear, and, I suppose, Cirque de Soleil, which we watched until the 10pm news came on.

Honestly, despite the seemingly random nature of the killing, I don’t feel particularly unsafe, though I admit that I had a hard time getting to sleep last night - every car door I heard gave me a little rush of fear, even though I knew there were still police cars all parked in front of my house. I haven’t talked to any neighbors about it, but I don’t really know any that well. I imagine they’re all feeling about the same way.

Just wanted to get it out. It’s a really weird experience.

2

Sorry to hear it. It’s scary enough being near a car accident or a minor house fire - I wouldn’t sleep well either.

Here’s hoping you have a peaceful time the rest of the year.

3

I’m sorry your eve was spoiled, too. I hate trauma. And in Urbana ! My mom went to university there. :sigh:

4

That sucks. My old neighborhood in Cleveland used to have the problem of people mistaking firearms for party toys and popping off a few rounds into the air on New Year’s Eve. Occaisionally there would be some-one underneath, with predictable results. I hope that this was not random. That doesn’t change anything for the victim, but it might allow you to sleep better.

5

Well, the updated news is - there isn’t much updated news. The police were out yesterday with metal detectors, presumably to look for shells. They still don’t have a motive and the description of the suspect was downgraded from “black male” to “male”. They say they have leads they’re following, and there was a lot of activity (police and otherwise) over at the house last night, but I’ve no idea what it was.

We’ve now heard that the victim was “a good kid who sometimes ran with a bad crowd” and who had “had a couple of run-ins with police” so it’s possible that this was not just a random shooting.

The thing that’s made us feel the best is that all the neighbors that we’ve heard from say that nothing like this has ever happened in this neighborhood. One woman has lived here 19 years without an incident like this. So that makes us feel a little better. It’s still an odd thing for the police to ask if any of the shots from a murder hit your house.

6

a woman was shot here in philly. she was sitting on a couch in the living room, when bang! a bullet went through the window, struck her in the head. she was killed instantly. the bullet was fired a couple of blocks away.

they will have a difficult time finding the shooter.

also in the 'burbs, a bullet went through a wall, through the baby’s room, (just over the crib) and came to rest in his older brother’s room in the wall over brother’s bed.

both shootings took place on nye.

it is incredible how far these bullets traveled. i’m starting to think about bullet proof glass in the windows. you just never know.

7

Well, I’m bumping this because they caught the shooter. Huzzah!

News-Gazette Article

8

Good, hopefully things will be a bit safer with him off the streets.