Well, if you want to talk about shooting, Philly still ranks number 1 in the country! (not necessarily with a camera though...)
Phil Forrest
Phil
As you know I lived in New Mexico for a year and a half and got invited to join a machine gun club.
Are you saying Philly is the number one city where you are most likely to get shot because its common, or because gun culture is so popular and prevelant there, or both.
Anyways the two times I had guns drawn on me happen to be NYC police. I really don't count the times when I was accually shot at with a shotgun because I was trespassing and it was loaded with salt rounds.
Around the time the Rolling Stone song "Heart Breaker" was popular I was a real skinny kid in the early seventies who looked like a stick figure. Just like in the song it was a case of mistaken identity when a cop car screech to a halt late one night when I just happen to be walking alone; but when the two cops jumped out yelling for me to freeze, I was so startled it would of just been natural instinct to run because the cops totally surprised me came out of nowhere. In the song "Heartbreaker" the boy ran and was killed by the police, and this was based on a true story.
First I was warned not to move or they would shoot, as one cop fanned out of my FOV so I couldn't see him to better kill me, then I was directed to move slowly only and only when directed or else they would shoot first and ask questions later. I played a lethal game of "Simon Says" without getting shot when they asked for my I.D., but they left as fast as they came, no apology, they just said, "We were looking for someone else."
I knew the cops were deeply and seriously afraid, and the only thing I figured made sense was that I was mistaken for Tommy TXX who live in the next town in Queens as this occured right along the Nassau Queens border that divided the suburbs from NYC. I knew of Tommy because Asians were novelties in those surroundings back then in the early seventies. The only thing that made sense is that Tommy Kung-Fu'ed a cop, because that would explain the cops fears of sudden moves and no interest in any weapons.
The second time I was inadvertantly in the gunsights of the NYPD was because I was in the line of fire during a robbery when the cops stormed the McDonalds that was being robbed by four gunmen (two with pistols and two with rifles), and one of the gunman was directly behind me.
If there had been a firefight I would have been "colateral damage." If it turn out to be a hostage situation the hostage would likely been me. Luckily the pistol was on top of all the money in the box that the robber was carrying and was not handy. I was working one of the front registers, when the cops yelled freeze everyone in the store hit the floor except me and the robber who was directly behind me.
After the place was secured by the police, I happen to be in the front. The robber who had the cash box was handcuffed with his hands behind him being detained by one cop, when one of the two store managers jumped the counter to get revenge on the robber who earlier was pistol whipping him because he would not open the safe. The manager knocked down the handcuffed man and proceeded to repeatedly kick him in direct view of the cop who just stood by and watched. Eventually the cop raised his hand to gently say, "That's enough," but it was spoken in such a demeaner that it could have meant, "only one more shot, make it a good one," or "If you don't stop I'll have to raise my voice."
Cal