Shots Fired Outside My House Last Night

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Mot45acp

Mot45acp

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Around 10:00pm a car drives past my house and I hear the crack of a semi auto .22 or other small caliber rifle. Some where between 7 and 10 shots. I can hear the rounds bouncing off trees and such. I am 99% sure they weren't firing at my house.

My course of action is to make sure my family is safe and away from windows, then dial the local sheriff's dept non emergency # which is also manned by the 911 personnel. The response "We will get someone to come out." The took my phone # and address.

20 minutes go by, I hear a car slowing down by my driveway. I start for the door thinking "yeah the police finally showed up." The car stops in the street, car door slams and the .22 starts firing again.


Another call this time 911 and the same dispatcher gives me a very rude "I told you sir there will be someone coming out."

I live in a semi rural area where gunshots are not all that uncommon, but, I know if I were riding around plinking from my car at night in a neighborhood I would have been cuffed and stuffed. I also know if I would have grabbed something and popped off a few in return the end game would be the same.

My big concern was the car stopping and door slamming (maybe letting someone out?) My house gun is a G17 with +2 topped off for a total of 20 combined with the M6 laser/light. I didnt get much sleep last night waiting to hear glass break or a door kicked.

I dont know the proper response if rounds started hitting my house. I couldnt tell the direction they were firing in. I had my SOCOM out in case. But, I found myself wondering if it would be legal to return fire.

My question is: What do you think the proper response for this situation is?

Here it is at 6:00pm and I am still waiting for a phone call or deputy to show up. My local sheriff is the kind where you dont want him to know your name(that is another thread) so I have a fear about calling and complaining.

I have lots of firearms for "sporting use" I practice often. It seemed as though this didnd count for squat last night.

Any thoughts would help.

Mot
 
If somebody's shooting at you, shooting back is self-defense.

If you won't confront the Sheriff about the pathetic lack of police services and you won't shoot back, what do you propose to do as an alternative?
 
i say, its a big difference between hearing shots fired and being shot at.


im sure you did the right thing by chilling out and staying put. Or you might have ended up cuffed and stuffed for real.
 
Perhaps the wording in the 911 call wasn't to the point enough.

I would have said "someone just got out of a car and is shooting at the house across from me". Or maybe you said that.

Regardless it just reinforces the notion that cops aren't here to protect anybody.

Also what I would do is contact whoever is 'above' your local sherriff. Somebody needs to know what happened regarding their response.
 
Call the Sheriff of your jurisdiction, and complain about the dispatcher and his/her rudeness towards you. If he gives you a bunch of guff, call your county commissioner. If that doesn't work, file an open records request and get the 911 tape/CD. They are recorded, both emergency and non-emergency, and play it at the next Commissioner's Court Meeting.

Rudeness and Unprofessionalism are totally unacceptable.

Just my .02,
LeonCarr
 
thats crap, they should have responded asap.. i think any 911 call need to be responded to in a timely manner.. and if your 911 call doesn't you need to contact anyone possible and file a complaint
 
as someone else had said WHEN SECONDS COUNT THE POLICE ONLY MINUTES AWAY.. i would have and have before loaded my gun and watched for more trouble... you can bet your a$$ if there was shooting at my side of the street i'd be returning fire!! the cops here know this already and except it..
 
I dont think that they were firing at me or my house. If rounds started hitting my house, I believe I would view that as an immediate threat.

As far as chasing down the 911 call or any sort of action against the Law is pointless, unless I feel like chasing it up to the state level. By that time I would be out of the equation. They are notorious for "finding contraband"

The thought did cross my mind to touch one off,(perfectly legal and can be done safely at my house) to let them know someone was there and armed.
But the whole "Dont show it unless you gonna use it" came to mind.
 
As far as chasing down the 911 call or any sort of action against the Law is pointless, unless I feel like chasing it up to the state level. By that time I would be out of the equation. They are notorious for "finding contraband
Click to expand...
What kind of place do you live in? If you're afraid of the police, what good are they? Why would you live in a place like that?

If you're telling the truth, you're being oppressed by the criminals AND the police. Is that how you want to live?
 
I had a similar incident in Putnam County, Florida. I didn't bother the police, but I woke up to a sound of a beefy sound of a poorly muffled vehicle, as it slowed to a halt, followed by several "cracks" of a rimfire or something. It sounded like they were going to every driveway and pausing to fire several rounds.
I had just started a safety initative of NO LOADED guns in the safe. My "ready gun" would be the one I used if I woke up in danger (it's happened twice already). This way a fire would not have firearms discharging in the safe and scaring away the nice firemen there to save my home.
I awoke quite groggy and realized that I was one of the next on the projected route, I realized that my Glock 23 would probably not solve my problem if my house was actually being fired on. The range was too great, and visibility was too poor.
I opted for my M-1A or Mossberg 590 with Ghost rings, which would have been adequate for a return volley if required.
It would have worked too, if I could remember in my sleepness, where I put the ammo. Talk about a wake up call!
Like you, I heard shots at the driveway, but no impacts on my house and my dog was inside, so he was safe, then they left.

As for your police response, an old policeman once told me when I got out of the police academy: when you get a call to respond to a shooting in progress, particularly of a home owner, go immediately to a doughnut shop! Order 2 doughnuts and a cup of coffee. Eat both and drink the coffee before you go to the call, and you'll live to be old. It's easier to hang a toe tag after a gunfight, than to go to a live gunfight when you're not even sure who all the players are.
Some similar thought was likely going through your responding officer's head.
It's sad, but true.
I never went on to a career in Law Enforcement.
 
As for your police response, an old policeman once told me when I got out of the police academy: when you get a call to respond to a shooting in progress, particularly of a home owner, go immediately to a doughnut shop! Order 2 doughnuts and a cup of coffee. Eat both and drink the coffee before you go to the call, and you'll live to be old
Click to expand...

LOL, sounds like the local PD around here.:)
 
My local sheriff is the kind where you dont want him to know your name(that is another thread) so I have a fear about calling and complaining.
Click to expand...

Time to move...

Where in the world (Texas your profile says) is there a town where you have to be afraid of the local Sheriff?

Thought those all went away finally back in the 70s.
 
I had a similar situation not too long ago. No shots were fired but a truck had drove down the road in front of my house and had a spotlight looking for deer (I assume).

I live in the country and do not have another house near me for 1/4 mile or so. My driveaway is around 700' long so I can see any activity on the road in front of the house before anyone even gets close enough to worry about.

The truck came back by and started shining his light into the field next to my house. He started to pull down my driveway slowly and shining his light all around looking for whatever it was he thought he needed to see. I decided that was enough and went out my backdoor and peeked around the house to get a good view with a little cover.

I keep a Glock 17 with a TLR-2 laser/light combo as my "house gun". I flipped the laser/light on when the truck was about 200-300 feet away and that must have changed their minds really quick! They were so freaked out they immediately turned around in a rough cow pasture that my neighbor down the road owns and got the heck out of there.

I haven't seen anyone around here doing that since. :)
 
"...a G17 with +2 topped off for a total of 20 combined with the M6 laser/light... I had my SOCOM out in case. But, I found myself wondering if it would be legal to return fire."

that sounds almost exactly like gecko45 would have done it. I don't know what a SOCOM is, but you say it like you're proud so I'm sure it's very nice. I'm impressed by your collection, though I don't know what +2 means.
 
+2 means 2 more rounds in the mag. Instead of 17 rounds (factory G17 mag) he has 19 + 1 in the chamber for a total of 20.
 
Is this unusual?

I guess I am used to livin in da hood. I used to call and all of that, but living in the barrio it is so common that the cops don't come unless there's a body on the sidewalk :what:

Have you thought about installing cameras and motion lights to catch the perps if they get close?

I gotta address one comment. Shooting back might not be the best idea in the city, especially, if it involves a drive by and sticking your head out the window.

Take cover, get ready, and call the cops. If they are intent on storming your house, then shooting makes sense, but I would use cameras and or my dogs to make that determination and then make sure you have a good covered position.

Shooter429
 
My SOCOM is my 16" M1A topped with an EOtech. I prefer a lil more punch than a .223. I used electrical tape instead of duct tape for my trauma plates:D

I am showing restraint as far as the cops go as to not turn this into a bash em up thread. The "Good Ol Boy" system is in place. They do not oppress people and wear red armbands. They just protect their own by any means necessary.

I am not saying I was about to be stormed. I think it was some kids playing although, dangerous. They did not come onto my property. I did not draw a bead. I am not going to be a victim. I prepared the best I could for the worst but prayed for the best.

I pretty much played rattlesnake. Hunkered down, but ready to issue a nasty bite if needed.

I didnt know my guns were mall ninjaish. But, I was decked out in the latest tactical boxers made by extreme shock.
 
You admittedly dialed the non-emergency number, so maybe they understood your call as a non-emergency.
I would think that someone shooting in the street would warrant using the emergency number.
 
I hesitate to dial 911 when I need non-life-threatening police help. I called-in a car accident recently and reported "1 minor injury". The woman immediately transferred me to 911. I guess that's who I will call next time.

Also, when I called the non-emergency number, it took close to 2 minutes to get through the options and speak to a real person. The automated system kept giving me options.
 
In my untrained opinion, the tactically soundest thing to do in the event of rounds hitting the house would be to get the family low to the floor, away from windows, and behind as many walls and other cover as possible. The armed members would cover likely points of entry. All the while on the phone to the cops, such as they are.

Engaging in a firefight with unknown threats and an uncertain situational awareness would seem to be unwise and exposing oneself to harm. You would have to be by an open window, door, or out of the house. Not good.

K
 
Can you give us an idea of the layout of your neighborhood to give us a better idea of best ways to respond? How close are the houses? How big are the yards? How far set back is the house from the road? How dense the vegitation? That kind of thing.
 
Depending on how you reported the shots fired may have a bearing on
a response. In this area, reponse for domestic, drugs and alcohol,
shots fired with disagreement will always call for a two unit response.
However, if only one available unit, a stageing occurs until a mutual aid
back up arrives. Amblance response will do the same until a police
unit arrives first and gives a code 4.
Unless you can prove being fired on, you did the right thing by having
the family in a safe part of the house and do nothing until a direct threat
occurs. A second 911 call would have been good, in case of continued
level of treat.
 
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