Shortly before these incidents, I was preparing dinner (in my kitchen, with a window in full view from the front of my house) and at one point noticed the flood light in my driveway was on. I figured it was an animal. Sky was also acting very anxious and I couldn't figure out what her problem was.
I was laying on my couch reading my book when the police announced that I was to exit the premises with my hands up. When I walked outside, I discovered my house was surrounded. I was told to keep my dog in the house and to walk slowly towards the light with my hands up, then told to turn around and back up slowly to the police, who had rifles pointed at me, and then to kneel, put my hands on my head, and then I was handcuffed. I was asked my name, what kind of car I drove, and my whereabouts from the evening. I told the officer I got home sometime between 7-7:30 after having gone to a therapist appt and then to B&N. I was asked the route I took, and I said I came home via Waverly. I was asked which direction, and I said from the B&N. I was then asked what kind of car I drove, and whether anybody was home. I confirmed that there was no one else in the house, and that I did not own a firearm when asked. It was at this point that it seemed the Sargent (?) had a pretty good idea that there had been a mistake.
I took notice of the amount of police cars around my home at this point. There were 2 cruisers blocking Lochmoor Dr from Waverly, at least 2 in front of my house, and at least one on the next street down that I could see.
I asked what this was all about, and finally told there had been a shooting earlier and the police were told that a dark green Jeep Liberty involved in the shooting pulled into my garage and closed the door. (After the fact, I remembered I hadn't even closed my garage door right away when I got home. The new recycle carts were delivered today, so I pulled mine up to the house and then got my mail, and THEN closed my garage door, so the people didn't even know what they had seen.) I was told I was going to be put into the cruiser (I asked to have the handcuffs removed, which the officer complied with) and that they were going to enter my house, not to search it, but to verify that there was no one else in the house. I told them they could enter, but I didn't really feel like I had a choice in the matter.
While in the police cruiser, I was asked my name again by the officer in the car, and was told that this was all probably a big misunderstanding, and I have a great story to tell in the morning. When the call was made that the house was clear, I was told that the Sargent would like to have a word with me. He apologized for the misunderstanding, and explained that with the witness report, they had little to go. He told me they had tried to make several telephone calls related to the address (why not do a cross beck with the DMV against my address, and get my vehicle make and telephone number from there), and with no phone to call, this was their next step. I asked why couldn't they just have knocked on my door? He said they couldn't do that.
At some point, I told him about Sky acting anxious and the light above my garage going off, concerned that maybe the shooter WAS around my house. He said that no, that was probably the police as they'd been there awhile. If they'd been there awhile, I'm sure they saw me eating dinner, making toast, and reading. Did this look suspicious to them?
I was concerned about Sky when they were entering my house, as there were 5-6 armed officers entering. They asked if she was nice, and I said yes, but I had no idea how she would react around them without me in the house. They had a lasso stick that I'm assuming they would have used on her if she'd been a problem. I'm not sure how long they were in my house (10-15 mins?), but when they came out, I didn't see Sky, which worried me. They told me she ran to the basement when they entered the house and then stayed down there.
He asked if I had any problems, or something like that, and I said yes, I had a problem with being hauled out of my house by what looked like a SWAT team in the middle of my neighborhood, now wondering what the neighbors were thinking of all this. He told me I could go talk to them or if they came to me, I could give them the incident report and let them call and see nothing was the matter. I feel this should be the officers job, not mine.
He wrote down the incident number, and I got the name of one of the officers and the Sargent and he gave me a number to call if I felt like I had been treated poorly, and I asked if that was other than getting hauled out of my house at gun point and handcuffed? He explained again that based on the witness accounts, they had to act on what they were told, and that I should feel for them because they'd been out there for awhile, in my neighbors yards, getting bitten by mosquitos, as if I'm supposed to have sympathy for them. I tried to remain calm, and told them I had the utmost respect for them (which I do), but they needed to see this from my point of view, as now I feel like there is a spotlight on my house. He apologized again and shook my hand (as did 2 other officers) and they left, like nothing had happened.
I'm honestly feeling a little paranoid about the whole thing. I'd like to know where this shooting was that these witnesses could see my driveway so clearly to know what was going on. If I hadn't been home, would they have forced entry into my home? If I had told them they didn't have access to my house, would I have been arrested? Did they need a search warrant? Too many questions!
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