re: Shooting on Grand Av on 19th at Gates/Nostrand ton

Why are so many GUESTS posting these "Did anyone hear the gunshots last night..." threads?

Maybe all of you GUESTS should purchase police scanners so that you may stay abreast of the many shootings you (and only you) seem to notice throughout the neighborhood.

My husband and I were driving home the night of the Gates shooting. We were approaching Gates Avenue on Nostrand, when we heard a whole bunch of loud bangs. Our car and the livery cab next to us slowed down drastically and all of the people outside all froze and looked down Gates toward Marcy. We both thought it was a truck making noise, until we realized everyone was looking in one direction. We were getting ready to turn on Gates toward Bedford. About 10 minutes later, we were home and we went outside and sure enough, the helicopter was out and police cars were speeding down the street. The next morning, 1010wins.com said there was a drive by shooting on Gates between Nostrand and Marcy.

Gunshots aren't to be considered background noise. Asking quesstions about them isn't gossip.

My issue is that I don't see how this is productive. If you really care about the gunshots, then make sure you go to your monthly community council meetings. There will be police from your precinct there and they will be able to give you a detailed report about all of the shootings, thefts, burglaries, etc. in your area, and more importantly, they will offer ways to improve life the quality of life around your immediate area. It's a great way to be active in the community and aid in its overall improvement.

When you post to forums asking about the details of some particular shooting, what are you looking for? What if I told you that I know exactly what happened on the night of the gunshots. Let's say that John and Tom are drug dealers and one shot the other over some sort of turf battle. Or Mack shot Shawna because he thought she was cheating. Are you happy now that you know the deets? The point I'm trying to make is that gunshots are gunshots and if you heard them then the particulars are unimportant. Get active in your community and make improvements and stop concerning yourself with minutiae of every single shooting.

WhyFi wrote: [quote=The Changeling]My issue is that I don't see how this is productive.

Maybe providing solace to themselves is all the production they need - I can see how some would want to know the details so that they can feel better about their own safety. For instance, I would feel better about the two examples that you gave vs "random guy got shot by a mugger." Wouldn't you?You're right--random violence is much more troubling than the examples I gave, but aren't the examples I gave a pretty good reflection of what generally happens here in our neighborhoods? MOST of the shootings that happen around here happen between people who know each other or at least people who have gotten into some sort of altercation prior to the shooting.

The best way to be safe is to not know people who put your safety at risk. If you don't want to get shot, then don't hang around anyone who shoots or gets shot at.

I agree that it is understandable that people would want to know what happened. I just wanted the "ooooh, who got shot" bunch to be a little more productive, and maybe follow up their "what happened?" questions with a "what can I do to ameliorate this situation?" question.

I think that a fair assessment of my disagreement with some posts is that while I believe that a person should engage in whatever coping strategy they can to reduce the negative effects of a stressor (in this case, gunshots/crime), it would be great if more people would engage in problem-focused coping ALONG WITH emotion-focused coping rather then just the latter alone. It seems that these shooting posts fail to go beyond the chit-chatting about possible details. Why not delve into more active ways to address the gun violence problem?

And Putnam Denizen, I never grew up around gunshots, although everyone I knew had handguns and shotguns (I'm a proud southerner ).

deadbolt wrote: I get it Queen, you hear gunshots and you run to your keyboard for cover I mean help; CALL 911! Stop rubber necking you are blocking traffic; help or keep driving.

...You mistook my point. Personally, I've never heard gunshots in my 20+ years of living in the city. I was just trying to come up with a reason why maybe we could cut people some slack.

In other words, I was being nice. Being nice is fun, more people should try it. :?

i'm really scratching my head trying to figure out how anyone could be confused about why someone would want to know about violence happening in their neighborhood.

i want to know if sally across the street is crazy enough to shoot her ex-boyfriend.
or if bob who lives downstairs deals drugs in his home and i didn't realize it. might keep me from attending his next neighborly get together.

knowing that your neighbors are trying to kill each other seems like something anyone would want. i dunno, perhaps i'm crazy.

and The Changeling, how do you know people aren't doing something to help the situation when they're not on this board?