So last night I made my first (and hopefully last) "shots fired" call to 911.
We have a neighbor who has serious mental health issues. All the neighbors are aware of this, as are the police, which I found out last night.
I was relaxing on the couch in my den when I heard the three "pops." I live in an area where it's not uncommon for someone to randomly set off fireworks, so that was my first reaction. But within seconds, I realized it was not firecrackers at all; I was just hoping it was.
I waited for about a minute as I heard voices coming from the front door of the townhouse right next door, where the person in question lives. When that talking subsided, I opened the door and then heard neighbors across the street. They were talking to another set of neighbors who were on their balcony, and I heard "sounded like gunshots"...."should we call 911?"
We all did, and within 4 minutes cops were swarming the area.
They took statements from everyone who called (3 of us) and everyone else who heard the shots. They recovered three shell casings on the sidewalk and in the parking lot area in front of my house.
The officer I spoke with told me they were very aware of this person and the fact that he is mentally ill, as they've responded to numerous calls about him trying to take his own life.
The cops took the shell casings, but left the guy at home with his gun because there were no eye-witnesses who saw him with the gun or saw him firing it. Yet, even before they questioned him, they knew he had a pistol, even what kind it was.
So they're "running the casings" in their database to see if it matches any gun(s) used in crimes. I was told that, short of a match, it's going to be hard to put that gun in his hand when it was fired.
It's amazing to me that this guy, with his well-documented mental health issues and numerous run-ins with the police, can legally own a gun. I'm also still waiting for an answer to why he wasn't forced to produce the gun so the cops could make some kind of preliminary determination as to whether it had just been fired.
I have a call in to the Sergeant who ran the team last night. I called on behalf of all of my neighbors who are extremely concerned about this situation. The guy's actions are clearly escalating.
I know I'm not saying anything that the vast majority here would agree with, but we need serious mental health reform in this country. At a minimum. I don't know whether the police did everything they could have last night. No idea. But I do know that they are restricted to doing what the law allows, and our laws are undeniably lacking in terms of protecting people. And I mean that for people who are threats to themselves as well as obvious threats to those around them.
