Last night I went out to Seven Corners in Falls Church, VA to eat dinner and go shopping some. I was with a friend at Barnes and Nobles and had just checked out and went outside to drink a tea that I had ordered. The time on my receipt was 9:07 pm. I was standing around for about 5 minutes and heard a single gunshot. It didn’t exactly register as what it was when it happened even though people from the area were screaming and running into the various stores that were open. I could see a large crowd of people running into the Home Depot where the shooting took place.
There was an 18 wheeler parked across the street where the shot came from; however, I didn’t notice any vehicles leaving the scene. There was oddly very little traffic immediately after the shooting took place. I suddenly wasn’t feeling so safe since I had realized I was just standing around. I suppose it could have easily been me since I heard he went for mostly stationary targets.
I went inside to tell my friend what had just happened, still in some shock of some kind but not too crazy yet, and we went to the windows to see if the police were there. They showed up shortly after he checked out. His receipt had him checking out at 9:15. I was really impressed with how fast the police showed up. They were on the scene within 5 minutes but probably closer to 2. The helicopters were overhead. The ambulances and a firetruck arrived just as quickly. It was really amazing to see how quickly they responded.
Since there were significantly better witnesses than me we hoped to get on the road and bypass the barricades. HA! That was the exact wrong idea. We were stuck in traffic for four hours with no sign of it even beginning to move so we got in a hotel and stayed the night. My friend is also good friends with the producer of the local NBC news affiliate. He had called him on his cell and I had a phone interview with them since I saw it, basically. My interview was on the news that night even though it was on the phone. Go me! There goes my 15 minutes of fame. :rolleyes: One of my friends recorded it for me.
All in all, I was pretty freaked out. It didn’t sink in until we were in the car.
Are you in the same area as the other shootings? I haven’t seen all the news on this one yet, I just heard there was another shooting at a Home Depot and that’s it. Glad you’re ok, be careful all of you over there!
Say Dorkus, was that you I heard on Channel 4 news last night?!?! I did hear your phone interview, you did a good job! I’m glad that you’re okay, although with the confirmation now (see belladonna’s post) that it is linked to the sniper, this new shooting does nothing to calm the nerves and anxiety of nearly everyone in the DC region.
What a terrible feeling you must have had when it all sunk in and what a thing to get your fifteen minutes of fame. I hereby propose that you are allowed fifteen minutes more of fame in a more happy, upbeat manner, like winning the lottery.
I feel for everyone who lives in this area. Espescially dopers.
Tarragon, that was me on Channel 4 last night. Just the voice, I didn’t do a screen interview. They did some weird dubbing from what I heard but that is ok.
Yep, I was drinking a Tazo citrus tea. I didn’t want to mention that it was StarCrooks in the interview though. I think I will hide out in the city for a while.
I really really hope that he is caught before Halloween. Can you imagine? Like ducks in a pond.
We’ve been driving Dominic to school, where they don’t have recess and where his field trip for today was cancelled… I hate that he has to worry about stuff like this. He’s only seven years old!
We’re 7 miles from the Manassas shooting and 16 from last night’s Falls Church shooting
Trish, it hit last night when I was in the car going back towards the city (didn’t make it, all the roads were closed). I just started shaking and threw up. I realized that I was just standing outside not moving or anything and I guessed I was within easy range of a sniper shot. I am not exactly sure how far he was when he was shooting but I could easily visualize that I had a red laser pointer dot thing on me at one time. I am guessing he was likely 300-400 yards away from me and probably 200-300 from the woman was shot. There were plenty of other people in the parking lot who could have been closer though. I am not going to go into the burbs again for a while.
Dorkus, did you ever think there would come a time when it was safer to be in DC than out in the burbs of Montgomery County or Fairfax?
I remember when I moved to DC back in the early 90s and it was the murder capital of the country. Now, I’m heading in to Connecticut and Nebraska to pump my gas.
I never thought it would be safer in DC, especially in my neighborhood. I think I will finally looking into buying an island and being my own autonomous collective.
I don’t recall any gas stations or Home Depots near JC’s place, so some of us, at least, will be safer than others for the night.
But this whole thing is not really helping to appease fizzy’s mother, who is dead-set bent against her going so much as one foot further north or east than absolutely required.
