Busy Night

I was happily lounging in my living room last night until the shooting started. It was close to the back of my house. Damn close. So close I slid off the sofa just in case anyone else outside decided to shoot back. Yep, that really isn’t unusual for Reading these days. No way do I want to get shot by a stray bullet because someone hit my window instead of who they were shooting at. There were four shots in all, right behind my house.

I waited. No more shots and no sirens so I figured it was over for the moment at least. Then I heard talking in the alley. There were at least a dozen cops, some undercover, some uniformed. Hmm, no sirens means they were already in the area which had me curious.

Generally, shots fired doesn’t make the paper unless someone is hit. Last night’s did. It turns out that there were undercover sheriff’s deputies searching my immediate neighborhood for a fugitive. They were on a fire escape of an abandoned building that is often broken into when the shooting occurred. The deputies aren’t sure if the shots were intended for them or not and they didn’t find anyone when they swarmed the area afterwards. Which means it’s not over.

Less than an hour earlier, ten blocks away, a man was shot through his living room window. See? I’m not paranoid. In that case however, they suspect he was truly the target. Nope, didn’t catch that shooter yet either but from what was in the paper they may know who it is.

And then, an hour and a half later, there was another shooting in a deserted block on the other side of town. In that instance, an as yet unidentified man was shot once in the forehead. Even though it was on a street lined by abandoned buildings there was a woman who witnessed it. Yeah, I’m sure there’s more to that story,

And you thought nothing ever happens in Reading.