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Original poster

Scary antisocial behaviour

5 replies

localmess · 12/10/2023 20:18

The other night at around 2.30-3.00am I heard a loud commotion outside my window. I was jolted awake and ran to peak through the blind and saw three men running up and down the street with baseball bats and machetes.
Needless to say it was terrifying so called the police and they told me they had already had several other calls.
Police arrived half an hour later with rifles and helicopters going overhead.
All seemingly apprehended (I saw the police handcuffing people) and since then all quiet.
But, I just can't settle. I feel paranoid every time I hear a noise.
I don't live In a particularly rough area but I am In London. I am a Londoner, lived here all my life so I'm not precious about city/urban life, but it shook me.
I'm resilient so I will get over it. Just wondering if others have been through this?

OP posts:
junbean · 12/10/2023 21:42

Did you ever find out what they were up to? Was it related to the Gaza war do you think? So strange!

I live in the US, rurally now but used to live in Houston where gunshots went off constantly. It didn't bother me at the time, but now that I live in a nice neighborhood in a small town and there's gun violence even here it's like I've reached my top limit. I'm scared to let my kids play outside and every noise makes me jump. It's hard to sleep at night and I get up a lot to check. What I've been doing to make myself less jumpy is to lock all the doors and windows, and when I hear something I remind myself everything is locked so no one could get in. I basically give myself a reality check. I feel scared, but in reality there's nothing to be scared of. What happened before won't happen again. (not true in my reality but likely true for you) You're lucky because police will actually do something when there's danger reported. Here the response is "well guns are legal. Maybe you should get a gun too." I've heard that so much I'm sick of it! I would feel a lot safer if my neighbors were watching out and calling in dangers, and police were responding. You should probably focus on that. There was a strange occurrence that was really scary, but it was dealt with appropriately. The chances of it happening again are so slim.

Hope this helps & your nerves settle!

Squiblet · 12/10/2023 22:00

Machetes?! Yikes. That is scary for sure. But hopefully the police will have extra security in place around the area now that they're aware. What neighbourhood are you in?

Original poster
localmess · 12/10/2023 22:16

Thank you @junbean. I don't think it was anything to do with the Gaza war as it happened before that. I hear you about making sure doors and windows are locked. I always check those before I go to bed.
I'm sure I'll be fine. I was just a little shook!

OP posts:
Original poster
localmess · 12/10/2023 22:16

Squiblet · 12/10/2023 22:00

Machetes?! Yikes. That is scary for sure. But hopefully the police will have extra security in place around the area now that they're aware. What neighbourhood are you in?

South London. Near Croydon

OP posts:
Original poster
localmess · 12/10/2023 22:18

junbean · 12/10/2023 21:42

Did you ever find out what they were up to? Was it related to the Gaza war do you think? So strange!

I live in the US, rurally now but used to live in Houston where gunshots went off constantly. It didn't bother me at the time, but now that I live in a nice neighborhood in a small town and there's gun violence even here it's like I've reached my top limit. I'm scared to let my kids play outside and every noise makes me jump. It's hard to sleep at night and I get up a lot to check. What I've been doing to make myself less jumpy is to lock all the doors and windows, and when I hear something I remind myself everything is locked so no one could get in. I basically give myself a reality check. I feel scared, but in reality there's nothing to be scared of. What happened before won't happen again. (not true in my reality but likely true for you) You're lucky because police will actually do something when there's danger reported. Here the response is "well guns are legal. Maybe you should get a gun too." I've heard that so much I'm sick of it! I would feel a lot safer if my neighbors were watching out and calling in dangers, and police were responding. You should probably focus on that. There was a strange occurrence that was really scary, but it was dealt with appropriately. The chances of it happening again are so slim.

Hope this helps & your nerves settle!

Just curious, if you're in the states how do you know about London?

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