Too close for comfort

[jgeiken]

Let me tell a short story about how great milwaukee is: I'm watching TV at 2:00 am on a sunday. All of the sudden i hear a lot of shouting coming from outside. I mute the TV and go out on the porch to see what was going on. I see a large group of males, both white and black standing in front of a house across the street. About 60 yards away. The group is split in two and both sides are yelling at each other. All of the sudden half of the group walks away down the sidewalk still exchanging words with the other half. 2 members of the group that walked away then turn around and pull guns out of their waistbands. They begin running at the group still at the house yelling "I'm gunna air you out". The members of the group near the house either turn around or run. The guys with the guns then begin smashing in windows on cars in the streets (with their pistols!). By this time I'm sure 90% of the rest of the people on my block, including myself, had called 911 and were watching the situation. The guys with guns start waving their guns in the air while yelling at the rest of the group. Then the sirens started approaching and everyone ran or drove off. I had sent everyone to the other side of the house (farthest from the street), got my little black protection device, and was watching the situation from what i thought was the most concealed location possible. To my dissmay, my roomate managed to snap a couple pictures, effectively ruining my concealment... But here they are. It was a solid 10-12 minutes from when i called 911 to when the cops showed up. So to answer in advance, no, i wasnt doing that when the cops were around.

 

[Ovid]

Just curious, what if anything did the police do?

I think this city is getting worse; we had 28 (reported) shootings over memorial day weekend. Thankfully most of the thugs are not proficient with guns.

 

[jgeiken]

by the time they got there everyone was gone, i went out to talk to them and gave the the vehicle description and the description of the guys with guns. the cops didnt seem to care much though since no one actually got shot... sad


and to answer questions in advance, all the lights are off in the house and the doors are locked. I'm on the second floor watching the situation at an extreme angle, the odds of me being spotted were practically nil. My roomate sure did get reemed out after the situation expired. and no, i did not plan on taking pot shots at the guys across the street. they kept running across the street and into my yard, i was simply making sure that i had a full idea of what was going on, and if they deemed it necesssary to enter my house, they would quickly find out that it was the wrong decision. By hiding in my house, like some people in other forums have suggested, i wouldve lost tactical control of my situation. in my position, i knew the exact location of everyone who was a possible threat and could make my decisions accordingly. fortunatly for everyone involved, my only decision was whether to go back to watching tv or to go to bed after i got done talking to the cops.

 

[Hardware]

+1

And +1 again for good trigger discipline.

Sad to say that other neighbors weren't out to talk to the police.

 

[jondar]

What possible reason would your roommate have to take a picture of YOU at a time like this? Just curious.

 

[Cromlech]

Well, jondar, his roommate probably thought it was a cool 'Kodak Moment' and didn't think about the consequences.

 

[KINGMAX]

Why do people do silly things

Why did your room mate do what they did - taking a pic, turning on a light, giving away your position and status.

I have ran into the same situation w/ my wife, story follows:
It was about 2:00 am on a Sunday night-Monday a.m, I heard what I thought was my truck door slamming shut. I jumped-up, went out into the yard. My wife got up and turned on the porch light giving away my position and the fact that I was unarmed. No one was found around my truck, nothing was missing.

She gave me no back-up, and broke up the element of surprise in my favor.

I quess if you haven't had any training, that is what should be expected. :banghead:

 

[BlkHawk73]

Ahh, the joys of cibig city life. And to think I passed that big city, over crowded type of area up - twice.

Glad all are ok. maybe, just maybe this would be a hint to relocate one's dwelling place.

 

[jgeiken]

My roomate: "Dude this is awesome" *SNAP*
Me:"***? knock it off man!"
My roomate: *snap* (hand in picture telling him to get back.)
Me: Ok if you do that again I might shoot you. Now get back man, this isnt safe.

everyones good, a cop came by at about 8 this morning, i guess they stopped the car and got the gun a few blocks from here. wanted to know if i could maybe do a photo array of the guy with gun. Sadly i couldnt.

 

[mmike87]

Not a darn thing wrong with assuming a good defensive posture when the crapola is possibly going to hit the fan outside your house. If shooting had started, some of those guys could have tried to enter your place seeking cover, putting you in grave danger.

Good job. smack your roommate though and confiscate his camera.

 

[WeedWhacker]

Better idea would be to tell the roomate WHY taking a picture with the flash (without the flash, while probably not good for picture quality, would generally be fine) was a bad idea at that time.

Man, I hope I never have gunfights outside my house. What's wrong with these kids? Where are the parents?

 

[Leanwolf]

WEEDWHACKER - "...Where are the parents? "


In jail??

L.W.

 

[hoji]

Good posture and trigger control. Sounds like you did everything right, except give your room mate a swift kick in the posterior.
I trust you were very explicit as to why he should not have done what he did.

 

[jgeiken]

thanks guys

 

[ceetee]

I have a quick question for those more tactically astute than myself... You were on the second floor, which would be the best place to be for observation, and probably be the best place to be if lead should start flying. What should you do, though, in the aforementioned scenario that has some of those being shot at breaking down your door, looking for an escape? Run downstairs and try to repel boarders? Stake out the top of the stairway and wait for any that try to ascend?

Or would it be better to observe from a ground-floor hide?

 

[Monkeyleg]

Just curious: whereabouts in Milwaukee do you live (north side, northwest, south side, southwest, etc)?

 

[Hoppy590]

thats some serious stuff man. good you didnt get involved. and as dumb as ur roomie was for revealing you position, its still a good picture to go along with the story as stated before + for trigger control

quick question. what did u have loaded, plain ball?

 

[bouis]

What should you do, though, in the aforementioned scenario that has some of those being shot at breaking down your door, looking for an escape? Run downstairs and try to repel boarders? Stake out the top of the stairway and wait for any that try to ascend?

At the farthest point from the top of the stairway that would give you a clear shot at anyone coming up it. From that position, you can take the first guy, maybe the second guy, as they're coming up and off balance, and be in a good position to get the third and fourth through the wall or the floor. #3 and #4 can't shoot back, because all they'll see is the guys in front of them getting perforated. Knowing criminals, they'll almost certainly run away after that.

 

[gezzer]

I would be tempted to stomp the roommate’s camera so he really gets the message.

The flash not only could have blinded you but could have been seen as a threat from the guys with guns outside sending lead your way.

You need to move Dude.

 

[jgeiken]

ceetee: I live in the upper of a duplex, i dont have a downstairs part. In that pic, im literally 5 steps away from my front door, which is at the top of a staircase that goes directly to the front of the house.

Monkeyleg: i live on the east side, north of downtown, south of shorewood. aka the "up and coming" riverwest area. About 3 blocks south of UW-Milwaukee.

 

[Eleven Mike]

The biggest problem? You're not tactical enough, dude. Yellow t-shirt, baseball cap, no web gear, no big flashlight or laser on your piece? Sooo untactical. Now if your ball cap said H&K, or something, yeah that would have been tactical.

 

[22-rimfire]

You did good. The picture flash sure blew your cover. But, that is the way of roommates. He probably thought it a big joke.

 

[Gordon]

Glass doesn't stop bullets well!. You kneel at corner of window and peek out only exposing the least possible meat for the least time.Reasonable stud bracing at edge of windows Good time to wear the hat hommie style! . Never shiloette a weapon , keep it out of sight till the last minute.

 

[BigO01]

jgeiken I think if this should happen agin I would go to that window behind you and open it up and get into a kneelling position for cover/concealement and a stable shooting rest if it came to that .

It sounds like you could use a cheap video Surveillance camera on your porch , ones that hook up to a VCR and record both audio and video can be had for as little as $50 .

here are a couple of links

http://www.palmvid.com/content/cate...cmos-weatherproof-camera-with-microphone.html

http://www.x10.com/cameras/xx11a_s_k_ps29.html

 

[Bill2k1]

Wow, crazy night I am sure. I was wondering could you give me a hint at where in Milwaukee this happened? I live here too and like to know what goes on. You don't need to provide your address or anything, some major streets would be awesome.

On the grand scale, I am have been feeling less and less safe in the city, maybe it is because of my new found interest in protecting myself and the lack of laws allowing such, or maybe it is because of an increase of overall crime.