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Happy New Years! Bang Bang Bang!
UPDATE 1/1/2016 6:51 AM
Sent in this morning by Elizabeth from near 32nd and Q Streets: The sounds of New Years 2015/2016
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The East End has the reputation for getting kind of shooty on New Years Eve. Not the intentionally violent kind, but the “going out and shooting what you’ve got” kind.
It’s all for fun, maybe to scare away the bad spirits, but it can still be nerve-wracking when it’s too close. Every year people say that it sounds a little more quiet than the year before.
Annectdotally: I had a student come in after the break my last year of teaching, all excited because “my dad let me shoot off so many guns on New Years!”
The police say to call in and report any shots that you hear. The non-emergency number is (804) 646-5100.
Y’all be careful out there.
TAGGED: New Year's Eve
When I worked at The Salvation Army Boys and Girls Club, it seemed like each spring we’d notice a leak in the gym, and without fail it would always be traced to a bullet in the roof.
If I’m home, I don’t go outside for anything. People seem to forget that what goes up must come down. 🙁
Oh, and adding to this–if you’re going to fire off fireworks, please finish up by 1. Last year they went on until 3, which is a bit excessive.
RIP Brendon Mackey – http://www.richmond.com/article_6ac46553-562c-5212-88ef-b284a1643875.html
I just replaced a metal roof that had several bullets embedded in it. We think this is how at least some of the leaks that necessitated the replacement got started. One of the folks who worked on it/looked at it told me he collects the ones he finds, and that most of them are from the East End…
@8 I know someone on N. 29th who made an insurance claim about his metal roof after someone shot off a gun(s) from Sugar Bottom years ago. It absolutely does happen, and we have quite a few metal roofs around here. Shooting in the new year is unfortunately a tradition in some areas.
Noisy around George Mason
20mins into the new year and all I can hear are gun shots and no sirens. This is pathetic.
CHPN needs to put up a GUNS WILL BE FIRED announcement every NYE. We moved here in 2011. Gunshots were scary that NYE. Now we know to stay inside.
Wow, is this what happens when the freedom of speech/expression (perceived) and the right to keep/bear arms co-mingle???
Looks like we’ll continue to have this conversation every 5th of July & 1st of the year!
G, I don’t think the folks doing this are constitutional scholars. Hell probably half of them don’t realize how gravity works.
It would be interesting to know where most of the police calls are being initiated. Is this a problem all over Church Hill or in selected areas? Possibly making folks more aware of where the problems are, additional attention could be focused on surveilling and apprehending the culprits.
An observation that I may be criticized for: If we could encourage folks to fire blanks rather than bullets (this is a thing, right?) then everyone could have a safer holiday. I think encouraging people to modify a behavior might be easier than getting them to give it up all together. Perhaps there are other ways to permit this sort of thing but control how it happens.
FWIW, my friend on the northside got a “don’t forget shots will be fired” reminder from their community association too. It’s a thing. I wish it was just sparklers and firecrackers.
I’ve said this before, and I stick to it: legalize all fireworks, and I guarantee we won’t be dealing with as much gunfire.
It got reported on Channel 12 – http://www.nbc12.com/story/30867521/terrifying-tradition-gunfire-rings-in-new-year?utm_source=site&utm_medium=meganav&utm_campaign=meganav
We had a bullet come through our roof at 29th and Franklin
New Year’s Eve gunfire in Fairfield Ct. Richmond, VA
http://video.richmond.com/New-Years-Eve-gunfire-in-Fairfield-Ct-Richmond-VA-30159810?ndn.trackingGroup=91348&ndn.siteSection=rtdstudio_hom_loc_sec&ndn.videoId=30159810&freewheel=91348&sitesection=rtdstudio_hom_loc_sec&vid=30159810