30 Jun Suburban Crime Report: A Shot in the Dark

Police document gunshot at Chez Gates (inset: point of impact)

This morning we opened our living room window-shade to discover what looked to be a bullet hole in our window.

Last night, my wife was sitting just inside that window (with shades drawn), watching TV, when she heard a big bang. Tree limbs often fall and hit our roof and that’s what she thought it was. This morning the evidence proved otherwise.

We called the police and two squad cars arrived within minutes. Upon inspection, the officer determined it was from a BB gun. Luckily, the projectile hadn’t penetrated the glass. “A light caliber bullet and even the ‘soft bullets’ we use for training would have gone through the window,” he said. “More than likely bored kids driving down the street, shooting at anything. Usually it’s car windows. And I wouldn’t be surprised if one of your neighbors finds the same thing.”

We live in a pretty safe area but this reminded me a similar bit of vandalism we encountered a few years ago. I told him I’d alert the neighborhood as he gave me his card with our case number.

My oldest daughter was pretty stoked about our late night encounter with crime. By sheer coincidence she is taking a class in forensics. She began her in-depth investigation immediately.

Update: After sending an email about this incident to everyone in the neighborhood, I just got a report of a similar bit of vandalism to a neighbor’s car window down the street.

• [ Suburban Crime, BB Gun, Forensics ]