a while back, there was a show called detroit 1-8-7. it was supposed to be about homicide detectives in detroit, but lots of things were wrong with it, including the fact that 1-8-7 is not the right code for a homicide in detroit. i think it is the code in LA or somewhere similar- perhaps where one of the producers is from- the first of many gaffes in the making of the show.
i was reminded of this the other day, while i was sitting in my car at a light on my way to the grocery store.
i was reminded of this because i was in the middle of a shooting.
literally.
as in, two sets of teenagers were shooting at each other across traffic, across a main street in broad daylight, in the middle of the afternoon.
and it was not cool at all.
first of all, they were too far apart to have had any chance of hitting each other, which meant that they had absolutely no judgement about what they were doing. clearly they were shooting for the sake of shooting, and that’s never a good sign.
second of all, in addition to the many cars at the light (literally hundreds of witnesses, which meant none of them was thinking straight, which was also a bad, bad sign…), there were several people standing right next to one of the pairs at a bus stop and several people standing next to the other pair at a school. again, very bad news because this meant they had no thoughts about potentially high body counts and that meant nobody was in their right mind.
and third, which was the worst for me, there was nowhere for potential innocent victims to get out of the way. because after i processed that they were actually shooting at each other for real and not just playing (because in the first split second of course i thought that of course they were just horsing around because they couldn’t seriously be shooting at each other) i realized that i couldn’t drive forward or sideways. i couldn’t back up. if i ducked, i wouldn’t have been able to see if traffic pulled forward, and bullets can penetrate car doors anyway. so every person in every car was pretty much a fish in a barrel. some of the people at the bus stop hit the ground but most of them just jerkily moved around trying to figure out where they should be that wasn’t where they were. shockingly, i didn’t see anyone actually run away. i think fear just paralyzes most people. one car in the front of the line did take off, but the rest of the people just sat there. after an eternal minute (or several?), the kids ran in separate directions and i drove on to the grocery store.
i didn’t call the police.
i’ll tell you why, and then i have a question for you.
i didn’t feel like i could accurately describe any of the kids. i saw what one of them was wearing (the one i watched fall backward and then stand up shooting). i saw his gun and was mesmerized trying to figure out what model it was. don’t criticize; the brain does strange things in crisis mode, and i forgot that i should have been trying to take mental notes on each of the people instead of focusing on one of the guns… but even his clothing wasn’t concrete enough in my head that i felt like i could be specific to the point where i should say it to police.
although i felt like i watched for several minutes, when i played the tape back in my head, the snapshot didn’t seem that long, and it wasn’t rich enough with information that would have been useful to do anything but take up an investigator’s time.
i made a deal with myself that if there was a police officer in the grocery store when i got there (there often is), then i would tell him what i saw. this time, nobody was there. i mulled over what to do as i shopped.
on the way home, there were no ambulances in the area, which meant that nobody had been hit accidentally. it was a small miracle, but another reason i didn’t feel compelled to act.
and then there’s this: i’m still new enough here that i don’t know the lay of the land. i don’t know who is who, and i’d rather not get involved in someone settling a score and potentially put my family in harm’s way if there isn’t a strong reason.
now here is my moral dilemma:
these teenagers are clearly unsafe. they very obviously own weapons and have no reservations about using them in a reckless manner. this is a double-edged sword, because on the one hand, i feel like as a responsible citizen i feel like i should do whatever i can to get them off the streets.
but on the other hand i know that they most likely will not get off the streets and i don’t want my name or address on record as the person who ratted them out because i know how that blows back on people and since nobody got hurt the cost (so nothing will happen to them anyway…) outweighs the benefit.
and me potentially being responsible for the race-based harassment of some innocent people (i.e. the wrong people, based on my sketchy description) by the police is not something i feel good about on any level…
so, my question to you is: what would you have done if this was you? it all happened so fast and was so surreal that there literally wasn’t time to call police at the scene or even a safe place to pull over nearby. to stay there and watch then longer to get a better description was completely out of the question for safety reasons; as it was i honestly was wondering if i would make it home to my kids…
if you have joined this blog lately because you are into the gardening stuff, i will apologize to you now, but extend the hope that you will hang in there with me π
so, what’s your call? good samaritan or selfish citizen?
Apr 19, 2013 @ 10:01:40
I would have probably wasted the police officers time, not because that’s the right thing to do, but because it would have been more like a reflex/reaction than an actual thought. That you could process it to this degree is astounding. I think you did no harm and there is a possibility you avoided getting drug into something you don’t want to be in. Glad to hear there were no causalities.
Apr 19, 2013 @ 10:04:08
If you have no genuinely helpful information, there is no reason to call. Just what could you have said? “There were young adults shooting at each other across the street and menacing a large number of bystanders. I couldn’t really identify any of them.”
Nothing you could say would have helped in getting these people off the streets. Calling would have been pointless. Trying to stay and get a better description would have been stupid.
Apr 19, 2013 @ 10:07:08
I would have called the anonymous help line. You don’t have to identify yourself to report an emergency.
Apr 19, 2013 @ 14:29:28
I would have attempted to follow one of the little shits to his home and waited fr him when he was of gaurd and panted a 2×4 in his head ted him up putthe gun in his belt and rolled him out of my car at the police station with a note discribing what I saw and that since I am paying their salaries they need to do a better job or move out of the way for someone who can….I not kidding
Apr 19, 2013 @ 16:27:27
I think I would have called on instinct. Even if you can’t describe them, the police need to know that there was a shooting. They can collect whatever evidence might be there. Maybe they are looking for them, and that helps then track them. You never know what might be useful. Retaliation is a whole other concern though. Glad that you and everyone else were safe.
Apr 19, 2013 @ 17:59:25
Grab cellphone – take photos – send anonymously – job done π Of course I wasn’t there and guns just don’t exist round here. Unless you have a licence, a safe, a medical certificate and belong to a gun club (handguns) or go hunting. (for the record – I’ve shot most things legal to own here and won’t have a gun in the house ever!)
viv in nz
Apr 20, 2013 @ 04:07:43
There was nothing you could do, other than getting license plate numbers.
Which probably was not possible since you were stuck in traffic.
So, you have to ask yourself:
1. What would Jesus do?
2. What would Spock do?
3. What would Dirty Harry do?
Answer:
1. Start beginning sentences with a capital letter. Makes it much easier reading.
2. Go about your day because it didn’t involve you.
Personally, I favor mandatory military service for 2 years for all 18 year olds. That way America has a reserve force and the gangbangers could hit what they aim at.
Back in the 70s I used to be an Air Force cop in Las Vegas NV. I have been trained to arms. I worked 20 years (80s & 90s) in really bad neighborhoods in Southern California, so know about how gangbangers want to put up a good show but are not good at shooting. It’s not like they have been to the firing range or had any training. It’s all about the show, not the result.
To answer your question: what would I have done? Probably just what you did.
There are other options, none of which would have turned out well for me.
I could have intervened, by shooting back or ramming their car, but then I would be the bad guy and that wouldn’t look good in court.
Sometimes one has to ignore pissing contests between gang members. Usually innocents are not harmed. The idiots are more interested in showing Bushido and making noise than actually accomplishing the mission…. because there is no mission. Just a ship of fools.
You did the right thing.
But from now on I recommend the truck driver rule:
Always leave a good following distance, leave yourself an “out”.
Meaning, when stopping at a stop light, make sure you stop far enough behind the car in front of you so you can see where its tires meet the road. That gives you room to get around.
Dang, I should get a job with the CIA π Except I have too many skeletons in my closet π
Apr 20, 2013 @ 04:53:42
PS: 187 is a LAPD code for murder or homicide.
You are correct in suspecting it came from Hollywood.
Apr 20, 2013 @ 08:16:48
good samaritan or selfish citizen? or clever little beast who got back to her borrow safely!!
the way i see it you followed your instincts, then tried to rationalize them (bad idea… instincts only are bio-logical not mentally logical)
ps. i’m a big fan of no capital letters so π to mr. Grant “text editor”, he should read some early poetry by pattie smith (rock legend) & then see how easy it is to understand no caps.
pps. so glad you’re intirely safe!
Apr 20, 2013 @ 08:18:29
opps, bilingual spelling mistake “entirely safe!”
Apr 20, 2013 @ 14:58:55
I am so sorry that you had to live through this sort of experience. I’ve been noted, at work, to walk through the middle of a crisis situation and not see what’s going on. It doesn’t make me a great candidate for a ‘first responder’. Some people’s brains process quickly under stress others don’t. It’s not a fault and you can’t blame yourself for the way your brain works.
I’m glad there was no police presence when you drove back through…so no one got hurt. And, as if you anyone needs to be reminded of this THIS week, 50 other people caught it all on their cell phone cameras. If anyone needs to see what happened the evidence has all been caught and can be retrieved.
Go back to gardening. Be grateful it was not your day to meet your maker. Be glad you can go home and grow something positive and life sustaining. We’re sure glad you can do those things.
Apr 20, 2013 @ 22:01:20
thanks, karyl. it’s so interesting- i haven’t been in the midst of a shooting since high school, and it sure is different when you have kids to come home to…
Apr 20, 2013 @ 22:03:30
thanks, phil. pattie smith, huh? didn’t she hail from royal oak, MI? that’s pretty near my old stomping grounds… but maybe i’m getting that wrong… in any case, very flattering comparison, so thanks π
Apr 20, 2013 @ 22:04:21
ha, grant- look at me being the red hot trivia maiden! π
Apr 20, 2013 @ 22:11:31
so, grant- they were not in cars, so no license plate numbers to get. they were standing on the street (what i would have called back in detroit “YO’s”- because they just hang around on corners and such calling out ‘Yo!’ to certain types of folks who pass by… not sure if this is a detroit-ism or not…) with their pants hangin’ down… they certainly had no bushido, since that was a creed of honour, and their behaviour had no such standard- a samurai never would have shot so near innocent women and children… but the stopping distance is a good idea. i don’t know that it would have helped with cars on either side of me, but maybe i should just drive a tank and then i could go right over the top π it’s all about escape and evade- how’s that for CIA??? π
Apr 20, 2013 @ 22:12:11
ooooooooooooh, viv- now i want to know what you’ve shot!!! π
Apr 20, 2013 @ 22:12:51
thanks, serena- you raise some good points, and definitely food for thought…
Apr 20, 2013 @ 22:13:43
anon, you crack me up! sometimes i love that there are citizens like you in the world keeping the rest of the world on its toes π
Apr 20, 2013 @ 22:14:31
ok, anne- you win the sensibility award for the day π
Apr 20, 2013 @ 22:15:25
thanks for that, helenB- that’s how i felt about it, and i definitely couldn’t have stayed…
Apr 20, 2013 @ 22:16:15
yes, naomi- so scary that our girls drive around here and shop here, though, isn’t it????
Apr 20, 2013 @ 22:42:29
Sensibility Award! I’ll have it embroidered.
May 16, 2013 @ 06:57:03
So here’s the bizarre, horrifying truth: There is no “typical” school shooter profile , other than the fact that they all tend to be depressed (which is not all that helpful for narrowing down a list of teenagers). For instance, the narrative after these recent shootings was “Don’t cover these guys on the news, that’s what they want! They’re in it for the notoriety!” Sure, some of them are — the Virginia Tech shooter sent his manifesto to NBC News — but the Newtown shooter, Adam Lanza, not only didn’t publish a manifesto or leave a note, but actually destroyed his computer before he left home so nobody could go digging through it.