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KRM45 wrote:Good job calling it in. I recommend you tell the dispatcher you want to be contacted though. The officer that shows up could use what little description you could give him to help him find the area. That way you don't worry about whether you should go out and talk to them. When they are ready they will call or stop by.

Thanks. And good point, I didn't think of that. Mainly I was thinking that since I gave the dispatcher the home phone number, I didn't want them calling back and waking up my wife or daughter. Guess I could also give the cell #. So I take it that these kinds of calls are taken pretty seriously?

So it's about 1:30 am, and I'm reading the Good Book a little bit before I go to sleep, then all of a sudden I hear a total of 6 gunshots: first a group like this: tap....tap-tap-tap, and then about two minutes later: tap-tap. It's crazy how many things went through my head so quickly! At first I thought it was something else (wind, trees, fences gates, cars, train, etc.) but having just been to the range, the sound of gunfire is unmistakable (especially because the odd succession of shots I heard). It didn't sound like it was right outside, or even that close to my house...could have been a block or a mile away for all I can tell.

I pick up the phone and call the neighborhood constable, tell them everything I can, as well as my name/phone/address, but decline a visit or a call back. (I just want them to focus on whatever is going on). Then I go back in our bedroom and put on my jeans and holster up my gun. Wife wakes up, she wants to know what's going on (and doesn't buy my initial bogus explanation), so I tell her what's up but not to worry. She goes back to sleep, and I wait by the front window.

A few minutes later, the first of 3 patrols moseys by my house. I watch the constable go by each time, and each time I debate whether or not I should go outside and meet him. Each time I decide to stay seated, and keep observing. After reading some other threads, I've already made the decision not to go play "night ninja."

An hour passes by without incident. I'm tired, but still can't go to sleep. Guess I'll be staying out on the couch, holstered, and keeping an eye (and an ear) out for things, til I eventually fall asleep. Hmmm, better double-check that safety.