Drive-By

[Thain]

I'm cross posting this from a mothering message board my wife frequents. This poor woman is justifably freaked out, and I was looking for some strategies to minimize the risk. My suggestions were to make sure there was no direct line from window to bed, keep the kids out of the front rooms or on a second story.

Oh, and "Get out of that neighborhood." is already being considered, but she's lookign for something a wee bit more practical I imagine.

Note: The mothering board uses its own shorthand, most is typical internet speak. Some, like DH, DD, DS are unique. DH = Dear Husband, DD = Dear Daughter, and so forth.

I'm so freaked out. If this doesn't reveal the power of a mother's
instinct, I don't know what will...

DS sleeps with us, but after I nurse him at around 7:30, he'll fall
asleep. He's quite the bed explorer during sleep, so even though we
have rails I almost always put him in his crib which is beside my bed,
parallel to 2 large windows that are about 15 feet from the street.

Sunday night (a week from this past Sunday) I told dh, we need to move
our bedroom furniture around - I don't like ds' crib being in front of
the windows. Our neighborhood is "transitional" - you know, huge
victorian houses and small shacks all jumbled together, prostitutes,
drug dealers, and moms with babes walking the same block. I was afraid
something might happen to him since he's so close to the road.

DH was really annoyed, but fell prey to my persuasiveness and we spent
about 3 hours trying to arrange our furniture, only to put it back the
way it was because our house is so small and that's the only way we
could make things fit. I kept insisting that I didn't want it like it
was, and that we'd need to pare down the furniture. He thought I was
nuts but I kept saying I didn't think it was safe.

On Monday, the next day, we went to bed at 10:00. DS was still in his crib.

I heard a gunshot about a block away. DH and I laughed, said 'we've
really gotta get out of this neighborhood'.

I guess on some level I must have heard the sound of the car as it
drove away though it was at least a block away.

I heard a car outside my house. My BLOOD RAN COLD. I know what that
feels like, now. I knew KNEW it was that car. I jumped out of the bed.
Started to get DS out of crib. Heard BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG just as
fast as you can read it.

By the time I heard the last shot, I was already on the floor with DS
in the hall, in the interior of my house.

I'm shaking now as I write this.

DH called the police, of course. They didn't find them. Apparently
they'd been shooting up the neighborhood for an hour and we hadn't
heard them because we were working on projects. Police didn't come for
an hour?

DS slept between myself (I was wide awake all night listening for that
car) and dh for the rest of the night.

Our cosleeping arrangement is ruined. I'm terrified to have him sleep
in my room with me. I moved his crib in his sister's room at the back
of the house, and he's been sleeping there all night, though I rock
and nurse him when he wakes up and then put him back in the crib.

I don't want him in a crib. I want him in my bed. I'd move to the back
bedroom, too, but that means DD would be in front, and though she
still gets in the bed with us sometimes she really prefers her own
bed.

There isn't room for all of us in one room (we only have two bedrooms).

I'm so sad, and scared. We won't be able to move til after December
when DH finishes his Master's degree.

I just wanted to get this off my chest and hear other people's ideas
about what I should do. I've not wanted to write about it til now and
suddenly I felt like I was going to bust open if I didn't write it
down. Mothering is a safe place for me, so I wanted to write about it
here.

Thanks for reading this far. I've spent the past week with my baby in
another room. It doesn't feel right, but it's that, or no sleep at all
due to my fears..

I also bring this up, because drive-by shootings are a risk for many of us. No matter how many weapons you stockpile, or how tacticool your new holster, bullets getting sprayed into your bedroom at 7:30 is going to suck.

Short of wallpapering with kevlar, what can you do?

 

[JamisJockey]

Don't place loved ones, especially children, in rooms that face the street.
Place sleeping areas as far away from the potential lane of fire, and place heavy furniture between sleeping area and lane of fire.
Be aware, pay attention, and don't take anything for granted.

 

[Fred Fuller]

Not really an unusual thing around these parts. Most are provoked by drug trade disputes, interpersonal conflicts or boyfriend/girlfriend rivalries, and are not "merely random unrelated shootings" as is the case in some places.

lpl/nc
=======================

http://www.robesonian.com/articles/2006/03/23/st_pauls_review/news/story05.txt [St. Pauls, NC]

Sheriff's office says five county homes are targets for shooters

Authorities say there have been reports of five unrelated shootings into homes across the county since Saturday.

No one was injured in any of the shootings, according to sheriff's Maj. Randal Patterson.

Sam Carter, 76, said someone shot out a window Saturday about 11:30 p.m. at his Russell Farm Road home near Pembroke. The shooting caused about $200 damage at the home, a report said.

Gunfire woke up Tammy Breeden Sunday night at her Peanut Drive home near Fairmont. Breeden, 42, said she heard “popping” sounds and discovered bullet holes in her home the next morning. The gunfire caused about $145 damage to her home, according to a report.

Milton Stephens, 35, reported Monday that gunfire woke him about 1 a.m. at his Alamac Road home. The gunfire caused about $300 damage to his home.

Christopher Locklear said gunfire interrupted his lunch break Monday at his home. Locklear, 23, estimated there was about $450 in damage to his Wilshier Drive home near Maxton.

Diane Sinclair reported that someone shot into her home at about 3:45 a.m. Wednesday while her family slept. Sinclair, 45, reported no damage to her Faye Drive home, the report said.

 

[sacp81170a]

A bookcase full of nice, heavy college textbooks makes a pretty decent bullet stopper, especially if some of the books are turned 90 degrees from the way they normally sit in the case and staggered so that all gaps are covered. A fairly thin bookcase can provide substantial cover this way.

 

[JJpdxpinkpistols]

well...they could always reside and put up this:

http://www.armorcore.com/

or they could take the cheap route:

Plywood.

take two sheets of plywood and 1 sheet of steel or lexan (at least 1/4" thick). Sandwich the steel or lexan between the sheets of plywood. drill through, slowly, and then bolt together at the base and along the sides.

At the top, attach some anchor point, like a straight hook, and then hang this on the window side of the crib.

Paint it up nice and purty like. I like elephants ;-)

It wont' stop a rifle bullet, necessarily, but it will stop handguns and handgun calibers.

Now for the details:

Lexan of 1/4" thick is capable of stopping handgun calibers, however, if someone is REALLY intent on shooting up your window with a handgun caliber weapon, it could chip/break. Thus the second sheet of plywood.

Steel in and of itself is also not so hot, but it can slow down significantly, incoming handgun rounds.

Plywood itself isn't the best thing...it does slow down and alter the trajectory of incoming rounds, but won't stop them unaided. See Box O Truth for more on that.

 

[Vex]

On Monday, the next day, we went to bed at 10:00. DS was still in his crib.

I heard a gunshot about a block away. DH and I laughed, said 'we've
really gotta get out of this neighborhood'.

Yeah, cause you know, gun shots at night in residential neighborhoods are funny.

Diane Sinclair reported that someone shot into her home at about 3:45 a.m. Wednesday while her family slept. Sinclair, 45, reported no damage to her Faye Drive home, the report said.

Someone shot into the home, but no damage. Apparently, the shooter couldn't hit the broadside of a... house?

 

[Thain]

Quote:
On Monday, the next day, we went to bed at 10:00. DS was still in his crib.

I heard a gunshot about a block away. DH and I laughed, said 'we've
really gotta get out of this neighborhood'.

Yeah, cause you know, gun shots at night in residential neighborhoods are funny.

I think this was said out of gallows humor and irony. Remember, bullets ripped through this woman's home a few feet from where she, her husband, and her infant son slept.

Thanks JJpdxpinkpistols, I'll pass that along to my wife.