My Mind Is Blown--Not Bird Related
WARNING! This blog entry is not for the squeamish. It is in no way bird related but is just a slice of my life...I can't believe I just used the word "slice". Be warned and keep reading at your own risk.
Those who know me well, know that I have neighbor issues. The house next to our apartment building is owned by a man who has a soft spot for those in the music industry and we get neighbors who like to show movies on the side of their house out 1am, play frisbee at 3am or just sit out and laugh and joke all night.
Last night at about 3am I heard sirens just outside our building and at about 4:30am I heard some talking and poked my head out the window. It wasn't the usual neighbors but a whole group behind our apartment building drinking and talking about EMT's coming down the stairs and CSI guys all over the place. I shouted down "Hey can you keep it down to a whisper!?"
"Sorry, dude, it's the beer." was the lame apology.
"I don't care, I just want to sleep!" and went back for another hour and a half of sleep.
When our alarm went off Ian and Margery were talking to "Waldo" a reporter from KSTP who is on about as regularly as I am. An odd assault had happened in the Uptown area of Minneapolis. Waldo reported that one to three people had been injured by a samurai sword in an apartment building on Lake and Lyndale. Non Birding Bill and I looked at each other--that's our block. I recalled the sirens and the strange conversations of the drunks behind our building. NBB asked, "What other apartment building is on our block besides ours?"
We turned on the news and sure enough, there was our apartment building--the scene of the samurai sword attack! I dropped an email to Ian and Margery telling them that was my building in the story. I walked out into the hall:
First, I find that crime scene taped has been used in our hallway. I walked to the front stairwell and WOW!
The trail of blood went from the third floor all the way out into the street. There was purple stuff splashed on the wall with the blood, which I can only assume must be from investigators trying to find prints. There were also wrappers and towels all over the third floor from crime scene investigators. I could see the KSTP news truck outside and said hello to Waldo--we later ended up on Ian and Margery. Margery commented that she loved how their guests connect under the oddest circumstances and how is it that I'm always in the thick of things?
NBB and I walked around as other neighbors were coming out of their apartments for work, not prepared for the bloody mess in the stairwell. We told them what we knew and then one of our neighbors came out who had witnessed some of it. It happened in the apartment above him. He heard a huge fight, he saw at least three injured people, two of whom took off. He called the police and when they arrived one of the injured who couldn't get away was taken to the Emergency Room. Body parts like fingers were bagged and walked out of the apartment. It was 7am at this point and our neighbor had a beer. He apologized but said it had been a rough morning. I now wonder if he was one of the drunks I yelled at around 4:30am?
According to news reports right now, the two other injured people showed up at the Emergency Room, with injuries consistent with a sword. I think they've been arrested.
Ian and Margery both wondered who the heck would have a samurai sword in their apartment...well, we do. They are very dull and probably couldn't slice chilled butter, but we've used them for shows. NBB wondered if his friends saw the story. "Great, Aaron and Dale are going to see that it's our building on the news and a samurai sword and think I've finally snapped."
We've lived here 8 years and it's always been a really nice building with great neighbors...except for the noisy bands next door. Now the stairwell smells like blood. What a way to start your work day. This just blows my mind. Perhaps it's time to move?
Those who know me well, know that I have neighbor issues. The house next to our apartment building is owned by a man who has a soft spot for those in the music industry and we get neighbors who like to show movies on the side of their house out 1am, play frisbee at 3am or just sit out and laugh and joke all night.Last night at about 3am I heard sirens just outside our building and at about 4:30am I heard some talking and poked my head out the window. It wasn't the usual neighbors but a whole group behind our apartment building drinking and talking about EMT's coming down the stairs and CSI guys all over the place. I shouted down "Hey can you keep it down to a whisper!?"
"Sorry, dude, it's the beer." was the lame apology.
"I don't care, I just want to sleep!" and went back for another hour and a half of sleep.
When our alarm went off Ian and Margery were talking to "Waldo" a reporter from KSTP who is on about as regularly as I am. An odd assault had happened in the Uptown area of Minneapolis. Waldo reported that one to three people had been injured by a samurai sword in an apartment building on Lake and Lyndale. Non Birding Bill and I looked at each other--that's our block. I recalled the sirens and the strange conversations of the drunks behind our building. NBB asked, "What other apartment building is on our block besides ours?"
We turned on the news and sure enough, there was our apartment building--the scene of the samurai sword attack! I dropped an email to Ian and Margery telling them that was my building in the story. I walked out into the hall:
First, I find that crime scene taped has been used in our hallway. I walked to the front stairwell and WOW!
The trail of blood went from the third floor all the way out into the street. There was purple stuff splashed on the wall with the blood, which I can only assume must be from investigators trying to find prints. There were also wrappers and towels all over the third floor from crime scene investigators. I could see the KSTP news truck outside and said hello to Waldo--we later ended up on Ian and Margery. Margery commented that she loved how their guests connect under the oddest circumstances and how is it that I'm always in the thick of things?
NBB and I walked around as other neighbors were coming out of their apartments for work, not prepared for the bloody mess in the stairwell. We told them what we knew and then one of our neighbors came out who had witnessed some of it. It happened in the apartment above him. He heard a huge fight, he saw at least three injured people, two of whom took off. He called the police and when they arrived one of the injured who couldn't get away was taken to the Emergency Room. Body parts like fingers were bagged and walked out of the apartment. It was 7am at this point and our neighbor had a beer. He apologized but said it had been a rough morning. I now wonder if he was one of the drunks I yelled at around 4:30am?
According to news reports right now, the two other injured people showed up at the Emergency Room, with injuries consistent with a sword. I think they've been arrested.
Ian and Margery both wondered who the heck would have a samurai sword in their apartment...well, we do. They are very dull and probably couldn't slice chilled butter, but we've used them for shows. NBB wondered if his friends saw the story. "Great, Aaron and Dale are going to see that it's our building on the news and a samurai sword and think I've finally snapped."
We've lived here 8 years and it's always been a really nice building with great neighbors...except for the noisy bands next door. Now the stairwell smells like blood. What a way to start your work day. This just blows my mind. Perhaps it's time to move?
posted by birdchick at 7:33 AM
18 Comments:
Sharon - sounds like a wake-up call. Time to get out. Find some place sane.
You used to be able to walk around Yuptown, even at night, and be relatively safe. Now people are getting randomly shot and samurai sworded and who knows what else.
Be safe, carry mace and a whistle.
wow. be safe.
And is it odd that I'm wondering who gets to clean up all that blood? Icky.
Gayle-
Probably somebody like this--I'm sure there's big money in it.
Lets see a samurai sword, beer and blood! Ok I know what happened!
Some role playing dude was playing Everquest and something happen where he lost some itmes, lost a battle and he got all pissed off. So being drunk and believing he was a level 19 sword carrying dwarf he decided to pull out his sword and take revenge for his lost on Everquest.
Damn you gotta love role playing games!
I've always wondered if the coopers hawk you see was the one that hunted in my old yard sometimes. I'm now 90% sure the coopers hawk you describe in the blog is the one that used to eat pigeons in my front yard, and visit us during breakfast.
Really it's still a great neighborhood. Would've stayed if we could've afforded more space in that area.
The higher ups who own our building had a cleaning crew at work in the stairwell when I left for my office. They promised to have it cleaned and repainted by the end of the day--I don't see how they can get it done that quickly--especially the carpets.
They also pointed out the news vans outside and asked that I not let the reporters in the building.
I'm sorry to go on and on about the blood, but I just can't get it off my mind--it's everywhere! Even on the sidewalk outside--you could easily follow the trail of the guys who fled from the scene.
It sounds like none of the injuries are life threatening, but one or two of the guys did lose some fingers, but at least no one was killed.
It really is a nice, friendly neighborhood. I'm still in somewhat of a shock, I can't even concentrate on birds.
They are a lot quicker about cleaning up blood nowadays, and have better technology, than 30 years ago. When I was in college at the University of Illinois, one of my best friends was attacked one night on the quad by a guy with a baseball bat. Her screams brought some other people to the scene and her attacker (who was never caught) ran away, and my friend ended up being fine. But this was in early April and her blood stain remained on the sidewalk through the end of the school year, still reddish enough to be unmistakeable. And there were still vestiges of it the following fall. We called it "Bev's stain." She threw out all the clothes she was wearing--the blood just didn't wash out.
But baseball bats, samurai swords--I bet someone somewhere has even conked someone on the head with a spotting scope. When people are in a rage, they use whatever is at hand. Birds are ever so much more civilized.
It really is a nice, friendly neighborhood.
No doubt. The thing I find concerning is that, if my ossifying memory serves me right, even during the height of the Murderapolis days of the mid-90s, Uptown stayed pretty immune to this level of violence.
I'm still in somewhat of a shock, I can't even concentrate on birds.
It's got to be pretty surreal.
wow -- how freaky.
I think you & non-birding bill need to get away for a nice weekend. maybe a b&b that allows rabbits?
be safe.
It's not so much the neighborhood as the tenants -- the combo of alcohol and weapons is always bad, no matter where you go.
I've lived in some "divey" places that have been fine because I'm surrounded by good people...and the night I moved into my first "nice" building, someone broke into the garage and torched two of the cars across from mine.
Anyone would freak out seeing all of that blood, but if anything is ever a one-time deal, I'm guessing the samurai sword would be it.
Well, I thought I had freaky neighbors of the week pinned down for sure, but there's no competing with a swordfight in your own building.
Glad you guys are OK. I'm sure Cinnamon disapproves of the whole mess.
Oh Dear me that was the most grisly blog post I have ever seen! I bet you were terrified. Please tell me that these were people who knew each other already and not people assaulted by a total stranger, because that would make it even worse. I wonder too, who has to clean it up and I guarantee you that Cinnamon is going crazy with disapproval, and rightfully so.
There was no sword fight just a hard core gtfo and enjoy your owning.
birdchick, from what I understand, the injured were in the process of invading this persons home, and he defended his home. I for one am quite glad the invaders were injured and only wish they could have all ended up dead.
I love dead criminals.
-Gregg
Don't move. I know it bothers you that there is blood in the stairwell, but think about it this way...who the heck is going to mess with the place now that this has been in the news? You probably live on the safest block in your neighborhood now.
i'm glad you are safe, although i'm sure it is a bit bewildering to find such in your own neighborhood. that the burglars didn't enter your apartment instead of choosing the other.
as they say "but for the grace of god, go i"
take care
I must say I disapprove of blood in the hallway.
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