Shootings In Small College Town

[PrideKidd]

Hello Police Officers,

I am currently living in a small college town in Pennsylvania. There was another two shootings here this past week. I am almost afraid to leave my apartment at night. In November there was a shooting fatality not more than three blocks away. This second two shootings took place right down the street from us.

What I am asking is what precautions and self defense methods would be best suited to use in a situation like this. What is not enough or too much precaution? We were trying to get over the fatal shooting when these 2 new shootings took place. I do not want to give into fear, so I am trying to find the best self defense methods. Any help?

Thanks for taking the time to read my post!

 

[Gelsemium]

There are way too many shootings, so when we are afraid of leaving our own home something is definitely wrong. I feel that the police is hopeless though, given the number of guns on the streets...

 

[JoanMcWench]

Is moving an option? I don't think you can ever be over prepared. If you feel comfortable arming yourself than by all means you should. However, you should be trained thoroughly before you carry a weapon. You could carry other things but as it's been said you should never bring a knife to a gun fight.

 

[Rainman]

Joan's suggestion is good. If the neighborhood you live in is that dangerous then instead of trying to prepare for the worst, the better option would be to movie to a safer place.

If for some reason you can't move then get yourself a gun, go to a shooting range. You'll as you practice shooting, you'll improve your shooting skills.

Step three. Install a home-alarm system and sleep with one eye open.

 

[Gabe]

I guess it depends whether they are one off incidents or whether it's normal. Some areas are rough and you know that when you move there, but if it has just begun, then the police should step in to stop it getting out of control. If it's a college town it should be safer as parents wouldn't want their kids to go to a dangerous school.

 

[Profit5500]

Hello Police Officers,

I am currently living in a small college town in Pennsylvania. There was another two shootings here this past week. I am almost afraid to leave my apartment at night. In November there was a shooting fatality not more than three blocks away. This second two shootings took place right down the street from us.

What I am asking is what precautions and self defense methods would be best suited to use in a situation like this. What is not enough or too much precaution? We were trying to get over the fatal shooting when these 2 new shootings took place. I do not want to give into fear, so I am trying to find the best self defense methods. Any help?

Thanks for taking the time to read my post!

Well you cannot go out at night without having any type of trouble since that is when it happens. I would just go stay home and not go out during the night unless you have to go to work.

 

[kana_marie]

Maybe you could find out where the good areas are and stick to them at night. When I lived in Charlotte there were several areas that if I HAD to go I went straight from my car to inside, and vice versa. Overl, though, I tried to stay in at night as much as possible.

 

[Shimus]

Thing is, I live right by PrideKidd and I know of these shootings as well. They even happened in our local neighborhood, but they seem to be isolated incidents with some people just going whacko. This town is eerily quiet all the time, no drama usually. There is regular town police and campus police so people tend to do their illegalities inside their own homes. So, in one of these illegalities, I assume a agreement could not be arranged and dude just went and got a gun and ended his problems. That's probably all the more or less it really is. Nobody else was targeted.

I still don't feel "unsafe" here, because this town is just too lazy and quiet for me to feel any sense of urgency about these. It disappoints me they'd resolve it by shooting and not a good ol fashioned beatdown, and even concerns me it happened right in my vicinity, but you can't walk around fearing everyone. And this IS a college town, so you get an influx of bad elements at times. Either way, I don't think I'll be moving but this is still like WHOA. Quiet town. Shootings.

 

[FuZyOn]

I live in a very dangerous town myself and the best thing that I learned is not get involed with shady people. You don't know what people that you are maybe going to socialize with are up to, so you better keep an eye on everything.
I'd also suggest moving, though I think that this suggestion seems a bit extreme and not very easy to do overnight, but you should consider this option.

 

[Diane Lane]

It sounds as if the issue isn't general or overall crime, but rather, specific crimes with specific victims. Not long after I moved here (about 6 months later), a neighbor shot 3 people. The situation was an ongoing neighbor dispute, and it had been building a long time. I didn't know all the particulars at the time, so I was concerned about my safety, but once I understood the situation, I realized I wasn't in any danger. One of the people she shot died, and I did worry that the spouse of that victim would retaliate, but that hasn't happened, and it's been a few years now. I always recommend checking with local police for crime stats for the areas you're interested in moving to, and I also check city-data.com to learn about potential areas. City-data has quite a bit of information, and locals are happy to answer questions on there.

 

[dyanmarie25]

Woah, that's pretty scary. If I were in your current situation, I would really consider moving out because obviously, your college town is dangerous to live in right now, so you better find a new place. That's for your own safety.

 

[IshieVonDyson]

I think I live near a similar sort of town, usually pretty quiet but these sorts of isolated incidents will happen and everyone will get shaken up about it. It does seem to be on the increase. I myself am wary of being alone at night, so I avoid it as much as possible. That said, some incidents have happened during the day; in fact, a few months ago I was meeting up with someone and there was a stabbing fairly nearby. We had no idea about it until we got home that night. If moving isn’t an option I would second the suggestion of choosing a weapon and getting well-trained in its use.