Put your gun AWAY!

[dgiharris]

Afraid not...

There was a group a couple years ago in Phoenix that would take new members on a drive around the greater Phoenix area at night with their brights on. When an oncoming driver would flash their brights at them (a common courtesy letting other drivers know their brights are on) the gang members would turn around and follow that car until they were along side them and open fire.

snopes.com: Flashing Headlights Gang Initiation

think this is false

 

[Belk]

Afraid not...

There was a group a couple years ago in Phoenix that would take new members on a drive around the greater Phoenix area at night with their brights on. When an oncoming driver would flash their brights at them (a common courtesy letting other drivers know their brights are on) the gang members would turn around and follow that car until they were along side them and open fire.

Yeah, that is going to make them real easy for the police to spot. Not buying it.

 

[PreachersWife2004]

snopes.com: Flashing Headlights Gang Initiation

think this is false

Yeah, that is going to make them real easy for the police to spot. Not buying it.

Eh, it may be false on a nationwide scale, but it happened several times in the Lansing and Detroit area.

 

[Ana the Ist]

snopes.com: Flashing Headlights Gang Initiation

think this is false

I can't speak to the legitimacy of it. It was something I heard from a Phoenix pd officer working the gang task force. This would've been 5+ years ago so it's entirely possible he heard it as a rumor as well.

 

[Ana the Ist]

Yeah, that is going to make them real easy for the police to spot. Not buying it.

Lol if being "easy to spot" were a concern for gang members there wouldn't be any gang tattoos, gang signs, gang colors etc. These aren't the brightest people in the world.

If I remember correctly, when MS13 was still a newer gang murder was one of their initiation rites.

 

[SuperCloud]

Eh, it may be false on a nationwide scale, but it happened several times in the Lansing and Detroit area.

Well... that's Detroit, the same city if I remember, where a drug gang walked right into a police station and executed a female eyewitness sitting in the police station.

I do not say this jokingly, but I have literally prayed to God before, thanking Him that I was not born and raised in Detroit nor that I'm living in Detroit.

There could be some places worse. Like Caracas in Venezuela. Or living in El Salvador. But you have to reach pretty low to get worse than Detroit (even though ironically, there are some small town throughout the USA with high murder rates than Detroit).

Edited to add:

Here is a small town of 34,000 you've probably never heard of. Located in Pennsylvania. I only know of the town because months ago I came across something on yahoo mention it had some crazy homicide rate for the year 2013 like 80 or 90 per 100,000 people. Something crazy like that.

But the link in this table gives it a homicide rate of 64 per 100,000 for the year 2012. With like 22 people killed in that small town.

Chester, PA. Now, imagine driving into that small town in the middle of the night, existing the highway, so you can fill your car up with some gas?

Chester: Crime rate in Chester, Pennsylvania (PA): murders, rapes, robberies, assaults, burglaries, thefts, auto thefts, arson, law enforcement employees, police officers statistics

 

[ulu]

more guns=more unnecessary deaths

same as it ever was

 

[Belk]

Lol if being "easy to spot" were a concern for gang members there wouldn't be any gang tattoos, gang signs, gang colors etc. These aren't the brightest people in the world.

If I remember correctly, when MS13 was still a newer gang murder was one of their initiation rites.

Being identified as a gang member is a little different then being identified in the perpetration of murder. People act as if gang members act without any sort of rational thought. What would be the outcome of driving around killing random people? What would a gang gain that would be worth losing most of it's members to first degree murder convictions?

 

[Belk]

Eh, it may be false on a nationwide scale, but it happened several times in the Lansing and Detroit area.

A Google search returns no hits. Do you know of a specific case?

 

[cow451]

Being identified as a gang member is a little different then being identified in the perpetration of murder. People act as if gang members act without any sort of rational thought. What would be the outcome of driving around killing random people? What would a gang gain that would be worth losing most of it's members to first degree murder convictions?

A spot in Snopes?

 

[PreachersWife2004]

A Google search returns no hits. Do you know of a specific case?

The ones I know of took place around the late 90s. Don't know if google would hit those or not.

Of the ones I receall, two were in Lansing, three were in Detroit, over a few months time. They thought there could be a connection, but then suddenly they just stopped.

A few of my cop buddies at the time figured that maybe the people doing it were put in prison, or got killed. Every now and then the warning comes up again, along with the getting egg on your windshield thing.

I'm still nervous about flashing my lights at cars to this day.

 

[Belk]

The ones I know of took place around the late 90s. Don't know if google would hit those or not.

I would think so, but I can not swear to it.

Of the ones I receall, two were in Lansing, three were in Detroit, over a few months time. They thought there could be a connection, but then suddenly they just stopped.

Were there news stories on these? If so I would think I would be able to track them down with the right key words.

A few of my cop buddies at the time figured that maybe the people doing it were put in prison, or got killed. Every now and then the warning comes up again, along with the getting egg on your windshield thing.

I'm still nervous about flashing my lights at cars to this day.

So wait. They had no clue who was doing this or why? What info did they have?

 

[Billnew]

We need to wait until all the facts are out, but it would seem from this story the cops overreacted.

The driver should have kept his hands on the steering wheel and informed the police when they were at the window. (Commonly required for CCW.)

If the driver holds up a gun, but isn't trying to turn or point it at anyone, there is no shoot, don't shoot situation.

They could have thought it was a hostage situation but that still wouldn't be a instant shoot situation.

 

[PreachersWife2004]

I would think so, but I can not swear to it.

Were there news stories on these? If so I would think I would be able to track them down with the right key words.

They would've been local papers - Lansing State Journal and probably the Detroit Free Press. I don't think they've archived back that far yet.

So wait. They had no clue who was doing this or why? What info did they have?

They knew some of the people involved. If I recall correctly (And I might not, we're talking nearly 20 years ago) there was some forensic evidence that pointed to known gang members.

We need to wait until all the facts are out, but it would seem from this story the cops overreacted.

The driver should have kept his hands on the steering wheel and informed the police when they were at the window. (Commonly required for CCW.)

If the driver holds up a gun, but isn't trying to turn or point it at anyone, there is no shoot, don't shoot situation.

They could have thought it was a hostage situation but that still wouldn't be a instant shoot situation.

It wasn't the driver, it was a passenger.

It could've been overreacting, but word has it that they told the guy to drop the gun twice before firing.

 

[PreachersWife2004]

One thing to remember, Belk, is that there wasn't anyone killed in these "drive-bys". Basically just windshields shot out, etc. I don't think anyone actually got shot, come to think of it. So it wasn't the typical "you'll get murdered" trope.

And I'm just not finding ANYTHING, let alone headlight shootings, from the LSJ from that far back.

 

[Belk]

They would've been local papers - Lansing State Journal and probably the Detroit Free Press. I don't think they've archived back that far yet.



They knew some of the people involved. If I recall correctly (And I might not, we're talking nearly 20 years ago) there was some forensic evidence that pointed to known gang members.



It wasn't the driver, it was a passenger.

It could've been overreacting, but word has it that they told the guy to drop the gun twice before firing.

One thing to remember, Belk, is that there wasn't anyone killed in these "drive-bys". Basically just windshields shot out, etc. I don't think anyone actually got shot, come to think of it. So it wasn't the typical "you'll get murdered" trope.

And I'm just not finding ANYTHING, let alone headlight shootings, from the LSJ from that far back.

OK. Given the dearth of information and your lack of certainty on the details I think I can safely claim that there are not gangs currently roving the streets looking to murder random people who flash their high beams.

 

[PreachersWife2004]

OK. Given the dearth of information and your lack of certainty on the details I think I can safely claim that there are not gangs currently roving the streets looking to murder random people who flash their high beams.

Oh I hope that's not what you thought I was saying!

I just know that something similar did go on for a time in Lansing and Detroit and we were all kinda worried about it. That, and the egg thing, are just things to be aware of.

 

[Belk]

Oh I hope that's not what you thought I was saying!

I just know that something similar did go on for a time in Lansing and Detroit and we were all kinda worried about it. That, and the egg thing, are just things to be aware of.

Ah! My misunderstanding then.

 

[Supreme]

OK. Given the dearth of information and your lack of certainty on the details I think I can safely claim that there are not gangs currently roving the streets looking to murder random people who flash their high beams.

Apparently, we even had gang in south London that reacted pretty badly to people flashing their lights in their cars. No idea why, I just remember my Mum telling me she wouldn't do it on a drive in Croydon one day...