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  1. Accelerator231

    Accelerator231 Contributor Contributor

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    A question relating to gunfire in an urban area

    Discussion in 'Plot Development' started by Accelerator231, Jan 5, 2020.

    A plot point I had that I sorta-need ironing out.

    I've had... a thing. A girl got superpowers, and leveraged them to summon demons, hire mercenaries, arm them, and basically throw out expeditions to another world, and run a homeless shelter.

    So here's the thing. She has lower durability than most superhumans in fiction. She has moderate durability. Were someone were to punch her, she would barely feel it. She's immune to bleeding to death, shock, blood loss, infections, all those little things. Her flesh is somewhat more durable than others, but not enough to make her knife or bulletproof.

    So I'm having her walk with her mother, have them meet a robber/ mugger/ hobo high on drugs, who takes out a pistol, and fires 3 rounds. Her being utterly untrained in combat, does the only thing a child could do. Shield her mother with her own body. 3 round strike her, and she goes unconscious from the pain and impact.

    The thing is, that leaves her mother alone with the hobo, who's still rocking a gun. So I need something to save her. A thought had me that the mercenaries she hired heard the noises and went to investigate, basically turning the mugger into swiss cheese with automatic rifles.

    So here's the thing. This is basically a gun battle in down-town. The city its taking place is in the rust belt, a failing city where majority of the people are out of work, crime is rampant, and the police force is underfunded and lacking manpower. There's a single casualty, a 15 year old white girl and a very scared mother.

    Is it actually plausible that no one investigates the gunfire?
     
  2. Some Guy

    Some Guy Manguage Langler Supporter Contributor

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    Yes, in many places. Odds are that multiple shots or a gun battle will attract attention. Police aside, crimelords and drug gangs don't like disruptions to their business either. This gives you the opportunity for fall-from-the-sky drama. Have fun. :)
     
  3. Accelerator231

    Accelerator231 Contributor Contributor

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    Thrice-damn it.

    I already had a idea for a reveal of superpowers. And it doesn't involve a police investigation.

    How long do police investigations usually take?
     
  4. hedgerowpete

    hedgerowpete Member

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    an honest opinion ongun fire in real life,
    1, guns only go bang at the safe end, at the opposite end of the street or range they go ping and it takes at least four to hit the wall behind you before you realise whats going on,bean there and done that

    2, most people after pulling the trigger revulse at a falling body, panic and run
    3, gun fire rarely attracts attension by the police straight away, more like 30 minutes
    4, most criminals have not had true fire arms training and most would be luck to you if your stood in front of them
    5, most weapons fall to work a lot more than you think as criminal smack heads dont service and clean their weapons
    6, final one, in most guns when they are lost or stolen they are full of bullets, the criminal practises a couple of times to test it , six round pistols normally have less than four rounds in them

    other than that, i love your ideas
     
  5. Accelerator231

    Accelerator231 Contributor Contributor

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    I'm confused by 1.

    But anyway, since you answered, thanks. So I guess he mercenaries can just melt back into the shadows after putting the criminal full of holes.
     
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  6. Xoic

    Xoic Prognosticator of Arcana Ridiculosum Contributor Blogerator

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    I think he means when you're at one end of the street and the shooter is at the other it doesn't make much of a sound. So you won't know what's happening until a few shots are fired. This is quite true. I don't know from actual experience but from a lot of news items about mass shooting etc, where people often say they thought it was fireworks until they started seeing bodies fall and hearing people scream. Of course if some thug stands in front of you and threatens you with a gun you'll understand what's happening.

    I've also seen youtube vids where dumbass street punks take six shots at somebody and never once hit them, form about a dozen feet away. So yeah, sounds accurate.
     
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  7. Accelerator231

    Accelerator231 Contributor Contributor

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    Wow, that's something I never considered. Maybe the daughter wasn't there, only the mother, only for her to survive the attempted shooting. The daughter, furious, sends out bands of monsters and demons, scouring the streets for the hoodlum that tried to kill her mother.
     
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  8. Xoic

    Xoic Prognosticator of Arcana Ridiculosum Contributor Blogerator

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    Well, if he threatens them so the girl can clearly see he's got a gun, then she could definitely try to protect her mom. If that's what you're referring to.
     
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  9. Iain Aschendale

    Iain Aschendale Lying, dog-faced pony Marine Supporter Contributor

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    I half-remember a statistic from the 90s that said that most police "shootouts" take place at distances less than 15 feet, everybody (cops and bad guys) empties their weapons, no one gets hit because they're all panicking, and it turns into a wrestling match after that.

    From my own experience working 9-1-1, I know that most criminals have ludicrously inappropriate guns for the task at hand. We got one guy after he pulled a drive-by shooting with a single shot, bolt-action .22 target pistol. It was all he could steal.

    Something like this:

    [​IMG]
     
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  10. big soft moose

    big soft moose An Admoostrator Admin Staff Supporter Contributor Community Volunteer

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    to be fair that's what a pro would use for a hit - except with a silencer - it'd be very quiet and if you can shoot you only need one shot.

    in a busy street, walk up, shoot the target, walk away - target collapses everyone thinks it's a heart attack - by the time they find out different your pro is half a mile away and the the gun is in a storm sewer - and a .22 will damage itself so badly pogoing around inside the skull that ballistic comparison would be impossible anyway
     
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  11. Cephus

    Cephus Contributor Contributor

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    If it's a big city, then they likely have audio gunshot detectors that alert the police the moment a gun is fired.
     
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  12. Xoic

    Xoic Prognosticator of Arcana Ridiculosum Contributor Blogerator

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    Damn new technology keeps making writing a decent story harder.
     
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  13. Accelerator231

    Accelerator231 Contributor Contributor

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    Damned New fangled tech...

    Am I the only one who feels old now?

    Yeah. I kinda knew what he tried to mean.

    So there's gunfire a gun battle. One injured, one dead. The lone eyewitness says that a dozen men came screaming after the first gunshot, and killed the attacker with juducious application of rifle rounds.

    They then proceeded to melt away after checking over her daughter.

    So question is, how fast do police investigations move?
     
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  14. Cephus

    Cephus Contributor Contributor

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    It's not new, it's been out there for years.
     
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  15. big soft moose

    big soft moose An Admoostrator Admin Staff Supporter Contributor Community Volunteer

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    its also not found everywhere by any means so you could just omit it from your story
     
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  16. Cephus

    Cephus Contributor Contributor

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    That's why I pointed out that it's prevalent in big cities. Just don't have your story in a big city.
     
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  17. hedgerowpete

    hedgerowpete Member

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    its not common in the UK and europe, theres no need for it
     
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  18. big soft moose

    big soft moose An Admoostrator Admin Staff Supporter Contributor Community Volunteer

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    Its not everywhere in the states either - circa 100 cities have it in some areas... e.g the high crime areas, areas that are likely active shooter targets, and areas close to military bases... this is the principal service provider https://www.shotspotter.com/

    however no city can afford to have them absolutely everywhere because the cost would be astronomical
     
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  19. newjerseyrunner

    newjerseyrunner Contributor Contributor Contest Winner 2022

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    In the summer of 1976, The Son of Sam was able to gun down multiple people in the busiest city in the world without much trouble. I don't think the sound of a gunshot would travel very far. Cities are loud, full of wind, and full of obstructions. Ill bet if I'm on the 8th ave side of port authority, and a gunfight was happening on 9th, I wouldn't hear it, even late at night.
     
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  20. Some Guy

    Some Guy Manguage Langler Supporter Contributor

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    Think of it this way: If the fattest kid in school can run the fifty-yard dash in say, 22?, 32? 42? seconds and the police arrive in a matter of minutes, then they are basically coming to sweep up your eyeballs and ask some pointless questions. Then a report might be typed up and sit on somebody's desk for a few years. The only timely document issued is the morgue tag that says, "John Doe - DOA, gunshot wound."
     
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  21. Xoic

    Xoic Prognosticator of Arcana Ridiculosum Contributor Blogerator

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    ^ Unless of course it's either a mass shooting or one of those cases the media turns into a big circus. And even then, it's media that's on it like a pit bull everyday, the police and politicians will respond if the attention forces them to but not before.
     
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  22. Cdn Writer

    Cdn Writer Contributor Contributor

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    Wow....never heard of that before. I assume this only applies to major cities like New York, Tokyo, etc? I really don't think this technology is being used in Winnipeg, Manitoba or Toronto, Ontario....I could be wrong about Toronto but it really seems like the sort of thing that I would have heard of........ if the city of Toronto was using it.
     
  23. Xoic

    Xoic Prognosticator of Arcana Ridiculosum Contributor Blogerator

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    I don't think Canada's really much of a gun crime country, is it? That would be us, your neighbor to the south.
     
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  24. Naomasa298

    Naomasa298 HP: 10/190 Status: Confused Contributor

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    Given how rare gun crime is in Japan (even the Yakuza don't like using guns) and the cultural resistance to them, I'd be surprised if Tokyo had them.
     
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  25. NobodySpecial

    NobodySpecial Contributor Contributor

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    Where I live, basically in the rust belt buckle, gun shots are so common they’re hardly ever reported to the police. Even then, it’s usually because the bullets hit someone’s house or car, or someone.
    Gun fire is so common around here, the city recently invested in that ShotSpotter gunshot detection setup, with listening posts around the city to triangulate the gunshots and send the police. Supposedly, this system is accurate enough to pin point the location within a block or so. And in most cases do it within about 60 seconds.

    According to their web page 80% of gunshots go unreported.
     
    Last edited: Jan 8, 2020
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