Neighbors

[gb_in_ga]

Say theres a situation with your neighbors... Like a gunshot or two. Do you simply stay at your house and do nothing but maybe call the police, or do you take your prefered weapon and assess the situation, knowing full well that it could be your neighbors life on the line. Obviously you'll call the police, but do you take action.

I'd stay put, armed and alert, and call 911, unless it turns out that my neighbor contacts me and actually asks for my aid. My main responsibility is to the safety of myself and SWMBO. Besides that, if gunshots have already occurred, chances are that the damage has already been done.

As far as I know, all of my neighbors are also armed to some extent, so it isn't as if they are helpless. My barging in and getting directly involved might end up with ME getting shot as well, by the BG(s) or even by my neighbor. And, this is suburban area where the police station is only about 2 or 3 miles away. Best thing to do is stay put and on alert, maybe keep an eye out for a vehicle ID or something.

This is assuming that nothing is visible from the outside -- in other words, that the gunshots aren't happening as part of an open air incident for all to see. If I could actually see that an assault of some sort was happening and that my action might actually be of some real benefit, then I just might dive into the fray after calling the law. Kinda hard to stay out of it in that sort of situation. Ga law provides for such action in response to a felony in progress. Nah, after I think about it I'd get SWMBO to call 911 while I tried to intervene.

[VUPDblue]

I once awoke to some strange sounds. I armed myself and looked outside, then I went outside to see what was going on. I saw someone breaking the windows in my next door neighbor's home. I was in a very concealed position in my own yard with an excellent view of my neighbors home and all exits. I kept still and phoned the local PD while still observing. They arrived with the quickness. Turned out to be a bitter ex breaking in for some unknown reason. They hauled her off and all was quiet.

[prater]

I think the first call I would make would be to the neighbors, after all you don't know for sure if it was a gunshot, then if they didn't answer, I'd probably call 911, or if they did but I still wasn't satisfied that all was well I would call 911. When it comes to infiltrating a home, the defender normally has the upper hand
(the high ground in this situation), and I'm not trained in tactical operations. Now if I was a S.W.A.T. team member or a cop in general then I might react differently. but I'm not...yet.

[svtruth]

the odds of an in the house gunshot or shots in a non-ghetto neighborhood are either ND or domestic violence. I don't see how showing up with guns will help either one.

[Big Calhoun]

I've looked at this thread and it is actually a pretty good question. Having lived in townhomes or condos most of my life, based on my experience, I would say that it ultimately depends on your neighbor and whatkind of relationship you have with them.

#1 Had a nieghbor back in New Jersey. Older gentlemen who lived alone and had a host of medical problems. I was pretty friendly with this gent so in his case, I kind of did act like an extra eye. Because of his condition (age, medical, etc.), I would have investigated if something didn't seem right. A couple of times over the years, I had rushed down after hearing a bang or crash. It was usually him knocking something over (God bless him). But again, because of his condition and the circumstances, I wouldn't have felt comfortable if something happened and I ignored it.

#2 Where I live now, completely different case. Most of the folks that live here are young adults to middle age. THe community is gated and requires an access card to get in. So things are fairly safe although there have been some strange goings on lately. Anywho, my neighbor now...I would completly play the witness role.

With my first neighbor, we knew each others routines. So I could easy tell if something was amiss. WIth my current neighbor, she's a rather strange bird, to say the least. I don't know what her normal 'routine' is because she doesn't seem to have one. Makes no sense eyeing who comes to the hallway b/c she seems very...'popular'. So given all this, in this scenario, I'd be more worried about securing my wife and house and being the best witness possible. I'm going to go for my handgun incase the situation 'spills over' but I wouldn't proactively enter the situation unless I felt there was a dire need (eg. her screaming bloody murder or something).

But I do think this is a very valid scenario for discussion for neighboorhoods are so different from place to place. Some are very community oriented, so neighbors may be more apt to check on one another. Others, like here, are more private, so it's kind of...worry about yourself.

[revjen45]

We hear shots from our neighbor's house all the time. Finally my wife asked what they were shooting at, fearing it might be our cat. Turns out they were just blasting grackles in their bird feeder and scaring away the buzzards that whitewash their walls. The neighbothood busybody told the cops it was us. If I hear shots I will close all the windows, turn up the TV and deny hearing anything.

[psssniper]

I dont think that this is a silly sceanario thread, it happened at the top of our cul-de-sac a couple years ago. Lanlord-tenant dispute, shots fired, a neighbor runs over to see whats happening and he gets killed, landlord survives, tenant take their own life. A hell of a mess and a senseless death.
This is an area where houses run around 800K so it aint the ghetto.

[squirrelsniper]

I guess it depends on where you live. I live in the country with a lot of other folks who like hunting and shooting. Hearing gunshots is pretty much a daily occurrence. Even at night it's common to hear a gunshot, as someone's trying to keep oppossums out of their garbage cans or trying to get coyotes to leave their livestock alone. If I called the PD every time I heard gunshots, they'd get tired of me calling.

So, in my area, as long as the gunshots don't sound like they're on my property, I don't do squat. Pretty much everyone around here is armed anyway and are quite adept at taking care of their own business. I'd be more likely to get myself shot by going to check on them.

Now that I think about it, I can see why I like where I live

[snolden]

Two main points here:
ONE: The time to perform this scenario is before the gunshots occur. Talk to and meet your neighbors. Find out which ones are receptive to a mutual aid group. Set it up that only a CALL to your for help or other signal will cause you to come over armed to help.

TWO: If YOU ever go into a "shots fired" situation with only a handgun, you deserve to be shot. A shotgun or rifle is the minimum armament required here.

Me, I don't plan to help anyone other than family at this point. But I am NOT going into a shots fired situation without a long gun and hopefully a vest.

[M1911]

Let me see if I understand this thread. There's shots fired in a neighbors house. You probably don't know the floorplan well. You don't know what's going on -- could be a domestic, could be a break-in, who knows. You haven't been trained in house clearing, but you're going to go charging in anyways?

Basic rule of house clearing, btw, is that clearing a house by yourself is suicide.

No thanks. I'll arm myself, secure my house, call the police, watch and wait.

[PythonGuy]

I think the logical reply here would be to call the neighbor and ask if things are OK. If you don't know your neighbor well enough to have their number, you have no business going over. Call the Police and watch to see if you can get any "evidence" if there is actually a crime being committed. The one exception I can see is if you live in a truly rural area where you are close friends with the neighbors and an understanding exists that you will provide mutual protection due to the remote location. In other cases you just can't go out "half-cocked with your gun to investigate potential situations.

[wolfy692005]

sorry, but if my neighbor has shots fired from his house, i'm helping... no if's and's or but's about it..
that is how America was founded and what it stands for..
everyone is out for #1.. if a couple more would help out #2 just a little, things would be a lot better..
sorry rant off

[springmom]

It's about not screwing up FOR THEM as well as for yourself. Please read my earlier comments. Unless you are a LEO, you are not trained to go into a house where you don't know what's happened. Unless you're LEO, I do not WANT you coming riding to my rescue because I may end up SHOOTING YOU thinking you're another bad guy. Or you may get shot by the police arriving who will think the same thing.

It sounds good to say this, but there are far more bad outcomes possible here than good ones.

Springmom

[Edward429451]

Don't be sorry wolfy, you're right and have a good attitude.

People should be willing to help their neighbor. Do we know our neighbors though? A lot of people do not and keep to themselves. Can anyone even name their neighbors and distant relatives that visit them?

How could you realistically expect to be able to help if you went to the neighbors and do not know who's who? That longhaired dude standing in the livingroom looking scraggly might be the son, or daughters BF who just ND'd innocently and you startle him coming in the door so he turns toward you with a gun in his hand...

Or he might be a meth-head who has just shot a resident in a home invasion and you're there in time to save the rest of the fam...

So unless you know your neighbors, you're damned if you do and damned if you don't. Paradox. So go get to know your neighbors. At least then you might have a clue if you could help. Extend them an olive branch and tell them why. If you get the cold shoulder, be wary of them and stay home if their place gets lively. I know most of my neighbors. Had their kids come meet our dog(s), they know who are kids are, their friends, number of people here and all that. Makes sense to me.

[John28226]

Springmom, normally I agree with what you write. I do not, however, in this case. But that is me. If you were my neighbor I think you would know what I look like and I am reasonably certain that I would know you by sight.

I also do not agree with the tendency to say "unless you are LE you are not trained .....". While that is no doubt true for many it, like so many blanket statements, is not true for all. This is kinda like saying, "Unless you are a paramedic or a doctor you should let the person bleed (or lay there) and just call 911. You might make it worse!" You might and you might not.

When I read posts like this I often wonder if some of the passengers on Flight 93 said, "Oh, I am not qualified to do anything. Maybe if we just sit here nicely everything will be alright." I guess we will never know.

I think Edward got it right - know your neighbord before there is an emergency and most likely you will have a pretty good indication of how to react to a potential problem. If you think it best to call 911 and peek out the window, then do it; but if you think you really need to do something else to possibly be of help, then most likely that is what you should do.

No one that I read was suggesting rushing blindly into the house with your gun in your hand. In this situation it is partly common sense and partly training - too little of either might be a problem.

That is where I stand on this issue but one last thing, I have not heard shots fired and investigated but I have had that call at 1 A.M. in the morning from a neighbor whose husband was out of town. She told me that someone was trying to get into the house and she was scared they would get in and harm her or the two small children. Of course I went while my wife was on the telephone with 911 telling them the man with the shotgun was me.

John
Charlotte, NC

[JohnKSa]

If you were my neighbor I think you would know what I look like and I am reasonably certain that I would know you by sight.

I know my next door neighbors to the south. I know the neighbors across the street & to the south.

That's it. Next door neighbors to the North and those directly across the street moved in recently and I haven't seen them enough to recognize any of them--likewise I doubt they'd recognize me.

When I read posts like this I often wonder if some of the passengers on Flight 93 said, "Oh, I am not qualified to do anything. Maybe if we just sit here nicely everything will be alright." I guess we will never know.

Inaccurate analogy. Those people knew the situation--it was very clear what was happening, and more to the point what would happen if they didn't act.

When you arm yourself and head out your front door at the sound of shots, you don't know ANYTHING about the situation and you have no idea whether or not your actions will help or make it worse.

I pointed this out earlier but it's worth repeating. Armed citizens have a much better record than the police when it comes to shooting the right person in an armed confrontation. That is because the armed citizen was almost certainly on the scene and knew the score while the cop came later and had to try to figure things out under stress and probably with very little time to assess.

When you interject yourself into the middle (spatially and chronologically) of a situation, you're putting yourself into the kind of quandary that results in cops sometimes shooting the wrong person.

There's just a lot of potential for things to go wrong--BADLY wrong...

[govteach]

I had this happen to me at Christmas 2003. Neighbors are about 1/8th of a mile away, and they got into a "discussion" over a pool game in their house in which one of the friend's kids got in the way of a shot. The "discussion" wound up being turning into a murder in their front yard.....Call the sheriff and protect your family.

[BouncerDan]

In my personal case my two closest Neighbors are my grandmother and my cousin. If I heard gunshots from one of there houses I would arm my immedate family while calling the residence that the shot came from. If I didn't receive an answer I would than go investigate to ensire the saftey of my family.

However this is not the case for most people. In most cases I would say protect your family and allow the neighbors to do the same. I mean what if you want to go and help but the neighbor doesn't know you are coming. There is a real possibility you will be shot due to the neighbor being on edge and expecting other BGs. So at this point you must ask yourself if they are good enough friends of yours that you would risk being shot or even killed.

[rangermonroe]

I'm willing to die for my family but I ain't willing to die for my neighbor.

I am.

[JohnKSa]

I am.

That's good, cause if you carry a gun into the middle of an armed confrontation in someone else's home, the odds are reasonably good that you will. The sad thing is that there's a good chance it won't be the bad guy who shoots you.

[rangermonroe]

I never even remotely suggested that I would go charging into my neighbors house armed. That would be criminal at best, suicidal at worst.

I simply stated that I would be willing to potentially die to save the lives of my neighbors. I am a flippin' firman.

In the original posters scenerio, he suggested that he would arm himself and assess the situation.

Following posters have added the run and gun, tactical entry scene.

[Arizona Fusilier]

Whoa, slick, yet observant move on your part, Rangermonroe! Yes, the original post did say "assess the situation", thanks for putting me back on track, at least.

In the Army, we had a great saying; "depends on the terrain and situation". I'll invoke that here, now. I would probably arm myself and stand on the sidewalk with a cell phone, but would not likely do anything more than that in my current neighborhood, with my current knowledge of my current neighbors.

Tragically, I don't think I know any of them that well to pursue anything remotely more aggressive. My area has very simple floor plans, basic variants of the classic ranch style, so that's not the problem. All the occupants and their "lifestyle" choices defintely is a problem

Now move me into the country, with few, yet more intimate neighbors, knowing that help is more than 4 minutes or so away like it is here in Phoenix, and I think you'd have a completely different ball game.

In principal, I would give my life for neighbors; hell, I spent 8 years in uniform ready to give my life for the lot of you 280 million doofuses, calling them "neighbors" now doesn't change that basic principal of selflessness, and I won't aplogize for that one iota.

Getting involved and doing right is far more problematic, however, and I won't apologize for that ugly fact, either.