I’m hoping this post doesn’t read like a police report and newspaper story all rolled into one (which is sometimes the case if the reporters goes by the press release only instead of making calls but that is another gripe).
I was looking for mosaic tiles in my garage Friday night about 8pm. I heard voices which is unusual for that time of night on a country lane. Country lane in the sense that I am on a country lane at the intersection of a busy road. I looked across the yard and saw a flash light bobbing around on the other side of my fence and the creek that splits my property from my neighbor’s.
“Damn kids,” was my first thought. My teenage son gives me grief for being irritated at teens who go on other people’s property to smoke or whatever. He wasn’t home but I thought “Whatever, as long as they aren’t hurting anyone.”
Then four rhythmic pops. Bam-bam-bam-bam. Not fireworks, too uniform. Holy crap, they were shooting a semi automatic gun! I quickly shut the garage door understanding that a bullet could easily go through the aluminum. I called the sheriff, of the neighboring county because I was so freaked out that I just searched “sheriff” in my phone and didn’t pay attention that it was not my county. They transferred me to the dispatcher in my county who said she’d send a deputy over. I texted the neighbors who had heard the shots and wondered what was up.
Now I’d like to clarify that gunfire is common in my area. People in the country are allowed to shoot on their property if they have over 5 acres. There is an unofficial range up the street and around the corner there is another gun loving neighbor who does not have 5 acres but has built a blind so he can’t be seen from the street shooting his weapons. He has quite the collection from what I have heard. He even shoots a window rattler once in awhile. I always worry about my animals. The horses seem used to it which is good in a way because fireworks don’t really bother them.
Here I am, in the house looking out the window in a darkened room, waiting for the deputy. My county is large, rural in may places and the sheriff department is understaffed. It was not too long before I saw the truck drive down the street with his spotlight. He passed my house, passed the spot where the people had been, turned around in the cul-de-sac then came back toward my house. I went out and opened my gate and stood by the driveway to talk to the deputy. He drove right by me and left. Did not stop, get out of his truck or anything.
Meanwhile, my neighbors and I are involved in a text thread about the incident. “Stay inside!” “Where were those gun shots?” “Glad you called the S.O.” “What do you mean he didn’t stop?”
I called the dispatcher back and she took full responsibility saying she didn’t realize that I wanted contact with the deputy. After another 15 minutes, he came back around. I was able to explain where exactly it happened, how I was worried for my horses and how there was a fight between some teenagers in the street after school up the busy road a bit. There was an event at the high school that night and I was worried that the kids might be waiting to ambush another kid. The deputy assured me that he would be very visible at the high school.
The saying goes “See something, say something.” When you have a small law enforcement arm and they make you feel silly for reporting things out of the ordinary, like kids shooting off a semi-automatic gun next to your fenced yard, it can put a damper on your calls to the sheriff’s department. This deputy was nice and we talked about why he became a deputy and how I am a former journalist. We both wanted to help people with our careers. As he was leaving, he shook his head slowly and said, “I should have been a firefighter.” I hear you man, I hear you.
Nell Carroll Photography 