I just had to call 911....I'm shaking

The people in the apartment above me are trying to kill each other. There is shouting, screaming, loud bangs, and the walls are rattling. It was so loud that it woke me up. My windows rattled -- I thought someone was trying to get in my apartment through the window.

This is a rough neighborhood, and I am scared shitless. They're going to know it was me that called. If there's some drunk asshole up there getting violent, it would be VERY easy for him to get into my apartment. I'm ground-floor, the windows don't lock, and I have a sliding glass door on the patio. Just throw a rock, and he's inside.

Yes, I should move. I know that. I can't afford it, though. The rents in all the better neighborhoods are waaaay beyond my means.

Oh God, I just heard a crash like a -- oh shit, like I don't know what. Huge.

*shaking*


On Edit: I called a friend who works the graveyard shift. I'm going to his work to pick up a key to his house and then going to crash at his house for the night. Thanks for being here while I freaked out.

No friends to stay with? I'd be getting out of there for the night instead of hanging out on the DU boards. Get in your car and drive around for a while if you have to. There might be a ricochet or something, ya know?

....I don't want to wake them up in the middle of the night if I don't absolutely have to.

ask them tomorrow if that may be an option available to you later on if you need it. I've had plenty of friends willing to put me up for a lot less than that though, and they have families too.

jeez how awful!

me leaving, which would tell them beyond all shadow of doubt that it was me who called, and which car is mine.

I don't know what to do.

The police will probably take somebody away if it's as bad as you say it is.

I wish you a better situation soon.

here come the flames again. . dum dee do dum dum.

Aren't there any other neighbors?

I had next door neighbors with "domestic issues" on whom I called the cops several times. They always understood why I was calling and didn't hold it against me....But just to be cautios, call a friend for support or a place to stay....Be careful!

Can you get out of that place? I lived above a batterer once and I called the cops on him. He knew I did. I'd been somewhat friendly with him when he first moved in, but the call did change the relationships, upstairs and down. This guy was no fool. After the cops came, he stopped the battering. And he started giving me a cold eye when we (much less frequently crossed paths). But I was a young man with another young man as a roommate.

What you could do is look for a roommate situation, a multiple roommate situation. Soon.

then the next thing you might think of doing, is call management. Why should you feel like you need to move? You can live in what's an affordable rent situation for you and still have the right to feel safe and have some expectation of a peaceful co-existence with other rentors. There are many people with limited income that have dignity and a sense of propriety, wealthy people haven't cornered the market on class. See if your landlord is sympathetic to this situation.

you haven't posted again, so just checking in.

this does sound like one of those times it's fair to call someone (my humble opinion).
maybe think if one you care about were in your situation - you'd want her to call you, yes?

take care of you.
the police would help you get somewhere safe, too.
as would a family shelter staff.

be well!

peace

It is a basic human need. I was the victim of a crime in my former home. It is really hard to feel unsafe in your own home, and for me, the only solution was to finally move to a home with much more limited access.

It sounds like the landlord is not maintaining the property in a way that ensures your safety, i.e., no locks on the windows. Most states have laws requiring locks on the windows for rental units, with special precautions for ground floor units.

I hope you have some time tomorrow to do some things to make you feel safer, like putting stoppers on the windows so that they can't be opened beyond a certain height, a stopper for the sliding door, etc. These things can be purchased rather inexpensively.

The suggestion that you try to get the landlord to improve safety is also a good one, as is the idea to try a roomate or house share situation.

I hope you're doing ok now.

will you let us know how it's going?

peace