Shots fired on the jobsite

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1894

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So, I'm a Cable Tech, and was on a job tonight in a not great part of town. Thought I was done but then realized I wasn't. Luckily, I had all my tools in the truck when I heard the shots. Sounded like a nine - and from not far away. I heard 3 to 5 that seemed like a block or two away. Then they got louder. I looked toward where they were coming from and saw the muzzle flash of three shots. I was hauling *** around the truck at this point. A pause in fire made me run into the customer's home (block with brick face). My CC was in the truck.

I debated for about 2 tenths of a second about going for it before I ran like a little girl for the house because the truck was locked and the time it would take seemed like a bad idea.

My carry wasn't on me because I strip everything I don't need off before I climb the pole. The shooter was (Thank you Google Earth) ~260' from me and not shooting in my direction, but about 70 degrees off. Less than 5 minutes later I was away from the scene. The customer watched me (from inside) get to my truck and I drove away with my traffic cones in the passenger seat.

Happened around 8pm EST. Still a bit wound up. The bourbon was supposed to help me relax.

I called 911 as I was driving away to report it. I cannot identify anyone. I have no idea if anyone was hurt.

My hands didn't start shaking until I was away. Took them a while to stop once they did though.

Initial thoughts: An LCP at that range is less than useless. The gun may do it but this shooter won't. With a tool belt and safety belt on, there's no effective way to carry anything useful. What's the cost factor in open carrying a C-130 gunship?

Your thoughts?
 
Put in for reassignment to a better part of town? :D

No, I don't have an answer.
The mindless indiscriminate gang-banging makes anyone, anywhere, a helpless target anymore.

And I don't know of a single thing you can do about it, except do what you did.

Find cover & concealment and hope for the best.
I think you did the smartest thing you could do.

rc
 
Considering that the house was the only thing that was going to stop those bullets, I think you did the right thing. Not likely that they were going to get out of the car and start coming after you. Stray bullets was the biggest danger.
 
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You did the best you could.
You say your LCP is less than useless in this situation.
If you'd had a scoped .308 bolt action?
You do not know who is shooting at who or what. Who is the bad guy? Even if there is a bad guy.
However you were armed, there isn't much more you could do. I often have full size service pistol on me. I wouldn't have done anything different.
 
Happened to me once delivering a pizza to a hotel. Behind the hotel was a service alley, and on the other side of that, a retirement manufactured-housing development. Normally a sleepy area in town.

It was about 10PM maybe, and I was eturning to my truck when two shots rang out from a point close enough to me to make my ears ring. I had been walking along the split wall separating the parking lot from the alley. Didn't see anything, and just got to my truck and left the area. Called the sheriff's office when I got back to the shop (was before cellphones were prevalent), but never heard anything about it after that.
 
You done good.
They weren't targeting you........Seek cover.
You engaging them would draw attention/fire to your position, and put you in harm's way.
After all you are a cable tech, not a cop.
Well played.
 
Happened last week here, Trooper unloaded on a truck that he chased onto the plant. Initial report was the fire was both was but turns out they tried to run him down.
My first time with a shooting in a gun free zone.
Helpless feelings locked down like a sitting duck.
 
You did the right thing. You had no idea if this was a good guy defending him/herself, a LEO, or a bad guy, so doing any shooting back would have been irresponsible. Finding cover was your only option. Would have been nice to have the gun though.
 
Sounds like you did everything you could of done.

Probably wouldn't of made any difference if you were carrying an LCP, 1911 or any other handgun.
 
The wire commandos will disagree with me but pulling your gun would have been your worst move.

You were witnessing gunshots involving unknown parties, unknown group of actors and unknown situation. Suppose it was the police exchanging gunfire with some bad guys and the action moves to your location and there you are with a drawn gun.

I think the military calls it IFF.

You did the right thing by seeking cover. I am curious as to the residents of the house reaction was?
 
If you had your CC on you, would you have done anything differently? I can't imagine I would have chosen engagement over concealment. As a bystander who had no reason to think you would be deliberately targeted, I can't imagine a better strategy than staying as far out of the fray as possible.
 
Perhaps some soft body armor insert in a low profile vest would be good for those, not so nice neighborhoods.
 
I'm a housing inspector and hear shots all the time. Witnessed an old caprice light a house up with an AK over the summer. That was something....
 
The bill is for rifle proof armor, not regular soft armor. Still a very bad idea, with some of the nice stuff coming from places like http://www.ar500armor.com/ .
I vest might be an idea in IIIA, but even the new ones will show/bind/constrict some and your co-workers might wonder what's up with you suddenly wearing armor...now if you could only claim it's part of a portable Farraday cage for work...:p

I'm not a street cop, but to me it sounds like you did the right thing. Perhaps a good pocket carry holster for the LCP might be something worth looking into.
 
I believe you did the right thing by finding cover, identifying where the shots came from and getting out of the area. It is not your fight and if you go looking for trouble you will for certain find it, or at least that is what I was taught.

I did field telecommunications installation for several years and almost never had a gun in the truck due to the fact I often went to military bases, and to other areas where firearms are prohibited by law. I found that a good dose of situational awareness helps with that, and when in doubt I live by the following commandment: He who runs away lives to run away another day. I have also heard it put this way on another forum: I am proficient in the finest form of self defense...running away as fast as I can.
 
1894 said:
Initial thoughts: An LCP at that range is less than useless. The gun may do it but this shooter won't. With a tool belt and safety belt on, there's no effective way to carry anything useful. What's the cost factor in open carrying a C-130 gunship?

Your thoughts?
Click to expand...

At 260 feet away (by your own reckoning), you took exactly the right actions. Duck and cover, especially when you evidently are not the target, is always an option, more so under your circumstances.
 
Tanshanomi said:
If you had your CC on you, would you have done anything differently? I can't imagine I would have chosen engagement over concealment. As a bystander who had no reason to think you would be deliberately targeted, I can't imagine a better strategy than staying as far out of the fray as possible.
Click to expand...
I was going to type almost the exact same thing.

Having a gun doesn't ward off a random stray bullet, nor get you out of the line of fire any quicker. Generally speaking, if they aren't shooing at you to begin with then don't give them a reason to change targets.
 
people shoot guns all the time in town, even the nice part of town where I live. they're not supposed to but it happens. i think over half the people living within a mile of me are retired. many retired professors since this is a college town.

still, i hear shots almost every week.

i sure wouldn't run over there and start shooting at some half-value knucklehead who was just checking his zero, or shooting at the neighbor's cat or something

i'm not saying you shouldn't drink bourbon, but i wouldn't consider it medicinal unless tomorrow's paper says somebody was ventilated in that neighborhood
 
Someone who is running down the street shooting isn't likely the average Joe zeroing his weapon, or shooting at a bothersome cat or other critter. No, he was likely witnessing the gang banging element doing what they do, shoot at each other over drug dealing territory.

Spend a few days in this city, and you'll see, and hear this type of activity on just about a daily basis. It's real, it's dangerous, and it's best to avoid getting in their way. You did the right thing!

GS
 
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