It was 8:45 on a cool night in San Francisco. My wife and I were enjoying the Budwieser Wasssuuup comercials on youtube when we both heard a loud pop.
Two startled adults blurted "WHAT WAS THAT?" in unison.
I looked around and found nothing until I walked down my stairs. There was a 1/4" chunk in the sheetrock next to the stairway. Whoa Columbo, where did that come from? No holes in the outside wall, nothing in the bookshelf on the otherside of the wall. Hmm, maybe some bad wiring? Nope we built that wall and there in no wiring inside. I walked down the stairs and saw a strange copper cylinder on the tile floor. I picked it up (sorry Sherlock) and realized I was holding a bullet. It was cool to the touch. I put it down where I found it and called 911. I told them that I thought someone took a shot at my house. I said I found a bullet on my floor. They asked me if anyone was hurt and when I said no, they transferred me to the local dispatcher. I told her eveything again, she got my info and said she would send someone right out.
While we were waiting for the cops we tried to figure out where the bullet came from. That is when I looked up and saw a hole in my skylight. Yup, the darn thing must have crashed through my skylight. Mrs. Columbo, er I mean Mrs. slobake looked down and saw a big gouge in our stairs. Darn it Jim, we just installed new oak flooring on those stairs.
I was standing on the stairs shining my flashlight up at the skylight when my smarter half said "Get away from there you want to get shot!" I figured the shooter was long gone but submitted to her wisdom and moved out from under the skylight.
I started heading for the front door to check the roof but she was having none of it.
"Hey, where are you going?"
"Outside to check the roof"
"No way, you want to get killed. Stay in here."
Once again I submitted to her wisdom and shut the door.
We decided to check on our nieghbors to see if they were all right and to see if they heard anyone on the roof.
I called Francios and she called Misty. Thankfully they were both okay. Neither had heard anyone on the roof.
The doorbell rang as I was hanging up. I opened the door to six young cops in blue. Five young men and one young woman. They were all cordial and officer Espinoza took the lead. He said "whoa" when he say the bullet on the floor. He told me it was from a 45. I showed them the notch in the wall and the hole the skylight.
All the cops aggreed that it was a random bullet probably fired from 1/4 to one mile away. One of the other cops said "Like my dad always told me, what comes up must go down." Unfortunately the bullet went up and came down through my skylight.
Officer Espinoza explained that is somone had shot the bullet from our roof it would have went right through the wall. He pointed out how the bullet was undamaged. If it was shot at closer range it would have been more beat up.
He put the bullet in a plastic bag to deliver to ballistics.
Two cops got another call and took off. Two other officers checked our back yard. I noticed that one of the cops pulled her gun out before she opened the door to the yard. Nothing in the back yard except a few hydrangas and lemon trees. The cop holstered her gun and asked my wife if she was okay. My wife said she was fine.
Everthing checked out and all the cops left except office Espinoza and his partner. He asked me a few more questions.
I told him the loud crack we heard was probably the bullet crashing through our skylight.
He asked me how much I thought it would cost to replace the skylight and fix the wall. I told him I had no idea. We aggreed that the a good guess for the skylight was $500. I told him I could fix the wall for next to nothing and we agreed that a guess for a pro to fix it would be $50.
Officer Espinoza handed me the case number and pamphlet called the "The Victim's Bill of Rights." We both laughed when I said I didn't feel like much of a victim. I pointed out the 100 year old stained glass in my front window and explained it was a priceless family heirloom . We were both glad it didn't get damaged. I thanked him and his partner, shook their hands and they left.
Mrs. slobake repaired the gouge in the wall, filled in the hole in the stairs and folded her laundry while I wrote this. Yup, that woman is fast.
Two startled adults blurted "WHAT WAS THAT?" in unison.
I looked around and found nothing until I walked down my stairs. There was a 1/4" chunk in the sheetrock next to the stairway. Whoa Columbo, where did that come from? No holes in the outside wall, nothing in the bookshelf on the otherside of the wall. Hmm, maybe some bad wiring? Nope we built that wall and there in no wiring inside. I walked down the stairs and saw a strange copper cylinder on the tile floor. I picked it up (sorry Sherlock) and realized I was holding a bullet. It was cool to the touch. I put it down where I found it and called 911. I told them that I thought someone took a shot at my house. I said I found a bullet on my floor. They asked me if anyone was hurt and when I said no, they transferred me to the local dispatcher. I told her eveything again, she got my info and said she would send someone right out.
While we were waiting for the cops we tried to figure out where the bullet came from. That is when I looked up and saw a hole in my skylight. Yup, the darn thing must have crashed through my skylight. Mrs. Columbo, er I mean Mrs. slobake looked down and saw a big gouge in our stairs. Darn it Jim, we just installed new oak flooring on those stairs.
I was standing on the stairs shining my flashlight up at the skylight when my smarter half said "Get away from there you want to get shot!" I figured the shooter was long gone but submitted to her wisdom and moved out from under the skylight.
I started heading for the front door to check the roof but she was having none of it.
"Hey, where are you going?"
"Outside to check the roof"
"No way, you want to get killed. Stay in here."
Once again I submitted to her wisdom and shut the door.
We decided to check on our nieghbors to see if they were all right and to see if they heard anyone on the roof.
I called Francios and she called Misty. Thankfully they were both okay. Neither had heard anyone on the roof.
The doorbell rang as I was hanging up. I opened the door to six young cops in blue. Five young men and one young woman. They were all cordial and officer Espinoza took the lead. He said "whoa" when he say the bullet on the floor. He told me it was from a 45. I showed them the notch in the wall and the hole the skylight.
All the cops aggreed that it was a random bullet probably fired from 1/4 to one mile away. One of the other cops said "Like my dad always told me, what comes up must go down." Unfortunately the bullet went up and came down through my skylight.
Officer Espinoza explained that is somone had shot the bullet from our roof it would have went right through the wall. He pointed out how the bullet was undamaged. If it was shot at closer range it would have been more beat up.
He put the bullet in a plastic bag to deliver to ballistics.
Two cops got another call and took off. Two other officers checked our back yard. I noticed that one of the cops pulled her gun out before she opened the door to the yard. Nothing in the back yard except a few hydrangas and lemon trees. The cop holstered her gun and asked my wife if she was okay. My wife said she was fine.
Everthing checked out and all the cops left except office Espinoza and his partner. He asked me a few more questions.
I told him the loud crack we heard was probably the bullet crashing through our skylight.
He asked me how much I thought it would cost to replace the skylight and fix the wall. I told him I had no idea. We aggreed that the a good guess for the skylight was $500. I told him I could fix the wall for next to nothing and we agreed that a guess for a pro to fix it would be $50.
Officer Espinoza handed me the case number and pamphlet called the "The Victim's Bill of Rights." We both laughed when I said I didn't feel like much of a victim. I pointed out the 100 year old stained glass in my front window and explained it was a priceless family heirloom . We were both glad it didn't get damaged. I thanked him and his partner, shook their hands and they left.
Mrs. slobake repaired the gouge in the wall, filled in the hole in the stairs and folded her laundry while I wrote this. Yup, that woman is fast.
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