o0o 3:03 AM Thursday, November 12, 1998 o0o

caught in the midst of all of this pain

Hello, hello and hey everybody. Three people were shot tonight, not unusual in this country. What was unusual was that they were shot in the parking lot of my apartments. Over a dozen shots rapidly fired at least three people existing less than half a city block from where I am sitting right now.

At 10:56 PM I was sitting in the exact same place listening to surf riders and surfing the 'net when I heard those shots. I first thought that I might be hearing gun fire, but there were so many I assumed that it had to have been either fire-crackers or someone pounding very loudly on a neighbor's door. Slightly annoyed I continued with my web pursuits.

Seconds later my mom is demanding that I lay flat on the floor and disconnect from the Internet (we only have one phone-line.) One 911 call and a few minutes later we hear the sirens that indicate a police presence is on its way. Around 12 AM my cousin shows up to return my mom's car and tells us of the scene in the parking lot. shell casings littering the ground, police tape every where, etc...

Aparently there was some sort of party, more like a group of people drinking, where two men started arguing. As the argument escelated one man threatened another with a baseball bat, at this time the man getting threatened pulled out a gun and proceeded to shot at things. He hit three people: one in the arm, one in the back, and one in the neck. One of the latter two is now in critical condition. There was also some minor property damage.

Shocking? Yes. This area has always seemed very safe and other than a few bratty neighborhood kids there has never been any noticeable conflict.

At this point i gotta say, "you should never treaten someone with a baseball bat or any thing else unless you want to get hurt."

God, I hope they spray the blood off the parking lot.

Even though I'm geographically close to this incident, I feel as emotionally and culturally removed from this as if I heard it on the news. Maybe that is because I only heard it; I didn't see it. I didn't see the blood or the shell casings.

I just don't know, I don't even have a clue. Should I be more upset? Is this proper motivation to move and if it is to where? Is there any place where this can not happen?

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