Uh, oh! All **** has broken loose here!

[jcat]

I couldn't get back on TCS last night - it was too "overcrowded". Would you believe the police aren't giving out any information? At all? My best friend's future son-in-law is a local detective, and he says they can't talk about the "incident" even off the record. Weird. The last time we had helicopters overhead it was because of a bank robbery, but that was during the day. I'm worried about the guy who stabbed the 14-year-old. The kids here walk to and from school, or take public transportation. What if he strikes again?

 

[leli]

That happened once to me too! I was young, like 13, minding my younger brother and sister, and this guy my mom worked with called to talk to my mom. I said she was out, and he said "are you guys by yourselves"? I said yes (this was a good friend of my mom's, not a stranger, of course), and he said to lock all the doors and wait for him to get there. When he came over, he explained that there had been a bank robbery in town and the police were searching the fields behind our house, as that's the last place the robbers had been seen (he had a police scanner). I was like, "oh, THAT explains all the copper choppers!" He stayed with us until our parents came home and talked to the cops when they came house to house.

 

[jcat]

The police did a search of yards today (and freaked Jamie out - he didn't appreciate strangers walking in his yard, and sat in the window and complained the whole time), so I finally found out what happened. There's a gas station two blocks down from us, and it was robbed by a teenager, approximately 16 - 18, armed with a machine gun, and on foot! Gun control is pretty strict here, but with all the weapons still floating around in the former Yugoslavia, and open borders due to EU enlargement, it's pretty easy to get things like that. The question is, was it real, or a toy or replica? So now we have one young slasher/ripper, and another kid robbing places with a Kalashnikov.

 

[rosiemac]

Oh no!!!!!!. Tricia make sure your eyes and ears are open when you go out!!, and always make sure you have your mobile with you!

 

[rapunzel47]

YIKES!!

That's some scary, Tricia!!

 

[rita]

I hope they catch them soon

 

[jcat]

Update: The police found the robber's outerwear and weapon in a trash can on our street. The "Kalashnikov" wasn't real, but a "Softair" weapon, which, according to the police, can still do a bit of damage at close range. The culprit hasn't been caught.
The bad news is that a 19-year-old guy was slashed and stabbed around 9 p.m. yesterday evening, again one town over. He's in the hospital in satisfactory condition. That makes two victims in one week - Saturday and Thursday, both teenagers, though of different ages and genders. It really sounds as if the perp is out of control.

 

[wellingtoncats]

Oh gosh Tricia, how scary! As everyone else has said, please stay safe!