My family lives in Royal Palm Beach FL, fairly safe place to live until this past Thursday morning. 4 AM I wake to loud bangs. I start to ask my husband "Is that a gu..." Before I could finish he is saying yes and running for the kids. Our room is downstairs and theirs are upstairs. He gets them downstairs and me and the kids huddle together as he calls 911. Even though the 911 operator already had gotten calls she asked my husband if he was sure they were gunshots and not a car backfiring. Let me tell you that the noise was no car backfiring. Then my husband decides since the gunfire had stopped even before he called 911 to try and go next door to check on a girl who lives alone there ane who is in college. We all yelled at him not to go. He opens the door to our townhouse and then quickly comes back in saying someone had been shot. He thought it was the neighbor to our right. A guy that is our age who lives with his mother. Chris calls 911 again and says that someone has been shot. They say the ambulance is on the way. Well, it shouldn't take that long. We can see the police department and the fire station from our front door. At this point our 11 year old daughter is freaking out. I am pretty much only holding it together for the kids. Becca, the 11 year old is shaking and crying. John, our 9 year old not as bad but still shaking. The police get there and our front door along with two other neighbors become part of the crime scene. We are allowed out back so once the kids settle a little we call their grandmother to come and get them. We don't want them seeing the body outside since it will be growing light soon and they are scared to be here at the time.
It turns out that a group of 3 stole a truck from the next towhnouse over in our complex, drove around to our building and tried stealing our neighbor's motorcycle. The neighbor's dog started growling and it woke the neighbor. He looks out the window and sees what's going on and yells at them to stop. Then he says they pulled a gun and aimed it at him so he got his rifle and fired. I had counted at least 5 shots. Two I heard as soon as I woke up, there was a pause and then 3 more. One of them was hit in the chest and killed the other two ran leaving the stolen truck.
Here's the bad news. These guys who tried to do the stealing are part of a gang known for getting revenge when someone upsets them. The one who died pled guilty to first degree murder just last year. He only got a year and probation. Part of that was because he plea bargained and the other part is because victims and witnesses wouldn't testify. They are known for assault and drive by shootings. The neihbor's have been gone since this happened. All of us left fear retaliation when they come back. I am really worried. We live right next door. If they do a drive by I don't thin they are going to be concerned that they only hit one townhouse. Our kitchen window faces the front where they'd drive by. My daughter's window faces the front where they would drive by. Some people say that the guy got what he deserved and that they would have done the same. I say that it was a motorcycle and instead of putting your life in danger call the cops and if they managed to get the motorcycle on the truck let them have it. Now the neighbor has a gang that most likely will be after him and whoever else gets in the way.
Oh, and we are pretty sure that my husband and my daughter saw the two accomplices as they went out to my mother in laws car. Two young african american men were walking down the parking lot. They were wearing black and had hoods on. Chris, my husband, and my daughter heard them crying. Everyone hinks they came back to see if the 3rd guy made it and then walked away when they saw that he didn't. Chris didn't think anything of it at the time. Later, when the dead guy's family found out what happened they showed up at the crime scene with a group of young men wearing black jackets and black hoodies with dark pants. Yesterday, a few african americans were sitting at the corner of our building in the guest parking spots. When the cops drove by they left. The cops have been here quite a bit but what happens when they stop coming around and the neighbors return? I don't want to be here anymore.
It turns out that a group of 3 stole a truck from the next towhnouse over in our complex, drove around to our building and tried stealing our neighbor's motorcycle. The neighbor's dog started growling and it woke the neighbor. He looks out the window and sees what's going on and yells at them to stop. Then he says they pulled a gun and aimed it at him so he got his rifle and fired. I had counted at least 5 shots. Two I heard as soon as I woke up, there was a pause and then 3 more. One of them was hit in the chest and killed the other two ran leaving the stolen truck.
Here's the bad news. These guys who tried to do the stealing are part of a gang known for getting revenge when someone upsets them. The one who died pled guilty to first degree murder just last year. He only got a year and probation. Part of that was because he plea bargained and the other part is because victims and witnesses wouldn't testify. They are known for assault and drive by shootings. The neihbor's have been gone since this happened. All of us left fear retaliation when they come back. I am really worried. We live right next door. If they do a drive by I don't thin they are going to be concerned that they only hit one townhouse. Our kitchen window faces the front where they'd drive by. My daughter's window faces the front where they would drive by. Some people say that the guy got what he deserved and that they would have done the same. I say that it was a motorcycle and instead of putting your life in danger call the cops and if they managed to get the motorcycle on the truck let them have it. Now the neighbor has a gang that most likely will be after him and whoever else gets in the way.
Oh, and we are pretty sure that my husband and my daughter saw the two accomplices as they went out to my mother in laws car. Two young african american men were walking down the parking lot. They were wearing black and had hoods on. Chris, my husband, and my daughter heard them crying. Everyone hinks they came back to see if the 3rd guy made it and then walked away when they saw that he didn't. Chris didn't think anything of it at the time. Later, when the dead guy's family found out what happened they showed up at the crime scene with a group of young men wearing black jackets and black hoodies with dark pants. Yesterday, a few african americans were sitting at the corner of our building in the guest parking spots. When the cops drove by they left. The cops have been here quite a bit but what happens when they stop coming around and the neighbors return? I don't want to be here anymore.
