Gunshot In My Neighborhood

[Daltex1]

Thursday nite It was a cool nite so I had the windows open, at about 2am the electricity goes off, my wife gets up to see if the whole blocks electricity is off, thinking she might have forgotten to pay the bill. As she goes out the front door I hear a gunshot! Keep in mind that the electricity has been off for about 5 minutes! I yell for my wife thinking the worst has happened. She runs in saying "Oh My God DID YOU HEAR THAT?" I said that was a gunshot.She said "I know". She immediately calls 911, the operator tells her " we have gotten several calls about the gunshot". So I grab my pistol and hand my wife the 38.After about 20 minutes no police have driven down our street or alley way.I tell my wife to call back and see what had happened. The police NEVER came down our street! I dont blame them but once the the threat was over I think they could have at least patrolled down our street.I know policemen dont want to get killed but after a time they could have at least made their presence known to all the worried neighbors. I now have put my shotgun in the bedroom since I was shaking so bad. Just thought I would let people know that I had the wrong weapon beside my bed and have since changed to the shotgun for my weapon of choice to protect my family. I was amazed at how scared I actually was.

[seamusTX]

It is possible that one of the other 911 calls allowed the police to locate the shooter immediately. In that case, there would be no compelling need for further patrols.

Given the circumstances, I would bet on someone who was drunk or naturally stupid taking advantage of the power failure to see how much muzzle flash his firearm produced.

BTW, if the electric company is going to shut off your electricity, you'll know. They send you multiple notices. They also don't shut it off at 2 a.m. The come to your house and remove your meter.

- Jim

[Daltex1]

The operator said when she called back that they did not find anything. My wife also said that she heard another shot about 2 hours later and said she was going to wake me but she laid there starring at the ceiling the rest of the nite scared out of her wits. My wife knows how to use all of my firearms so I know she could have actually protected me LOL! I told her the next morning after she told me of the 2nd gunshot that she should have woke me up and she said that I thought I would just let you sleep!!!!! WHAT!!!!!! I could not believe my ears! She now says that she will wake me from now on ...lol.

[Daltex1]

I also wanted to add that when my wife called 911 on her cell, her call went to Collin Counties dispatch, we live in Dallas county but we are right on the line of Dallas and Collin county so I would suggest that anyone that lives close to the Dallas and Collin county line make sure they have the number to their local Police station as valuable time can be lost during the call transfer.

[Keith B]

Daltex1,

I wouldn't worry too much about it. We had a similar incident in the neighborhood a few months ago. About 2AM hear four rapid shots that sounded like they came from a large caliber handgun. Called 911, and did have a car come by in the neighborhood, but nothing found either. I guess it didn't bother me too much since I used to travel to my Grandmother's house in north St. Louis years ago and you would routinely hear gunshots at night.

You would be surprised at how far the sound of gunshots can travel on a quiet night. 3-4 blocks pretty common and it can easily sound almost right next door if the wind is blowing from that direction. When I was a LEO, we would have calls from 2-3 blocks away reporting gunshots in a bad area of town, and the caller would report it sounded like it was next door, but investigation would end up finding the shooters a couple of blocks away. We live about 2 blocks off a main street, so I just kinda figured someone was shooting as they went down the main street, and probably not really in the immediate neighborhood.

[Keith B]

I did just think of something else. If you have a short in the main electric lines the fuses that they use on the poles sound just like a shotgun blast when they blow. They are EXTREMELY loud. Is it possible there was something that hit the lines and caused a fuse to blow a little later as the lines slapped together again? Was it windy that night??

[Daltex1]

no it was not windy, I thought it might have been the transformer blowing, but that came a few minutes after the electricity went off. I am not sure if the bang from a transformer comes before or afyer the electricity goes off but if that was it it sure ssounded like a weapon being fired. It had the distinct sound of a firearm.

[Keith B]

How soon after the sound of the shot did the electricity come back on? Sometimes when they go to reset the fuse, they will blow if the line is not actually clear. They may have been working on the line and trying to replace the fuse.

[jimlongley]

How soon after the sound of the shot did the electricity come back on? Sometimes when they go to reset the fuse, they will blow if the line is not clear. They may have been working on the line and trying to replace the fuse.

That was my question too. This old phone man has heard and seen such things many times. Those breakers and fuses make an impressive amount of noice.

The other thing I would ask is: Is there a power substation or switching station nearby?

[Excaliber]

I also wanted to add that when my wife called 911 on her cell, her call went to Collin Counties dispatch, we live in Dallas county but we are right on the line of Dallas and Collin county so I would suggest that anyone that lives close to the Dallas and Collin county line make sure they have the number to their local Police station as valuable time can be lost during the call transfer.

Cell phone calls tp 911will be routed to the PSAP (public safety answering point) that covers the location of the cell tower your call happened to hit. If a PSAP other than the one you want picks up, simply ask the dispatcher to connect you to your PSAP (local PD or sheriff's office). They can roll the call right over to them.

It is an excellent practice to have the direct dial (10 digit) emergency number for your local police agency programmed into your phone. This number isn't often published, but your police agency will usually give it to you if you call them on the nonemergency line.

Remember that when you call from your cellphone, ANI and ALI (automatic name identifier and automatic location identifier) will not work and you will have to tell the dispatcher where you are and who you are.

[Daltex1]

Ithe electricity went off , 5 minutes later the gun shot noise was heard. Electricity was off for a couple of hours, I do not know what time the 2nd shot was heard as I was asleep. I think she said an hour after I had went back to sleep.Electricity was still off at the time the 2nd shot was heard by my wife.

[sivart-dod]

In South West Houston, I fall asleep to the sound of gunshots at night

[flintknapper]

A "gunshot" is certainly possible, but not the only explanation (especially when it coincides with a power outage).

A transformer could have exploded (even more than one). A transformer can "go" when it receives an over load for a period of time long enough to overheat the oil inside. How long that takes is dependent upon the circumstance. Primary fuses on poles can also "pop" and make quite a bit of noise.


A car/truck exhaust "backfiring" is a dead ringer for a gunshot too. Unless I heard multiple "reports" and could be reasonably sure it wasn't fireworks, I wouldn't be too quick to assume it was gunfire unless you live in an area where that is common.

Caution on your part is certainly appropriate and a call to the Police is a prudent thing to do.

[bdickens]

These days, a vehicle backfiring is highly unlikely. That is a leftover from the days of carburetors. With electronic fuel injection, a car that would backfire won't even run - let alone be drivable.

Down the road from us are some apartments and every time someone drives across the track for the gate, it sounds like two gunshots in the distance. We have learned to distinguish that noise from the actual gunfire that happens periodically.