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 Posted: Thu Jun 09, 2011 10:53 pm
I just witnessed a woman get assaulted and beaten through the peephole at my friend's apartment. It was...a bit traumatizing when he beat her up against the door I was looking through. I heard her say something like, "He's cutting me, he's cutting me!" and a few groans before complete silence. I'm too afraid to open the door.
I'd call the police but my friend (who, like me, is under the age of 21) had been drinking some alcohol, and I've no where to put it, so if the police came...we'd be in trouble as well. Plus, I don't even know her address. She had left only moments earlier to go picture-taking and I'm stuck here alone.
At first I assumed it was just some crazy lady that managed to inside the building or a girlfriend and her boyfriend having a fight involving flying furniture in the apartment next to us. She even screamed at some people who came out of the elevator to call the police (which, by the lack of police after 30 minutes, they obviously didn't).
My friends in the military just received permission to leave work early to pick me up because of the situation, but I'm still afraid to open the door. Plus, I see (what I believe is) popcorn strewn all over the hallway floor.
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Posted: Thu Jun 09, 2011 11:24 pm
Call the police. Now.
I get that you and your friend were drinking and such, but this woman was being beaten and assaulted. She even screamed for help ("Call the Police" and "He's cutting me"). If that was you, and some kids could clal the police but were afraid to get busted for underage drinking, what would you do? To be honest, what you and your friend did was fairly selfish. This woman needed help and asked for the police, but nobody did anything. For all you know, she could be suffering or even worse. If you're traumatized, imagine how she must be.
You guys would be charged with underage drinking and pay a minimal fine. Or would you rather this woman who screamed for hlep to go abused and unaided?
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Posted: Fri Jun 10, 2011 12:05 am
A few things I'd like to add.
1. It's a little late to call the police now; it's been almost an hour. The couple she asked for help had said they would call the police right away, I thought they did. I was actually waiting for when the police would show up.
2. I mentioned my friend left the apartment only moments earlier, so don't bring her into this and say it's her fault.
3. We weren't drinking at the time. All the empty bottles were left out from three days ago because we planned on taking them in to be recycled.
4. It's easy to criticize someone when you haven't been in their position before. Sure, you can say, "Imagine how s/he must be feeling." Well, I can imagine. But how about what I'm feeling? Oh, I can just tell you how I'm feeling, but you don't know what it's like to actually feel it. This has never happened to me before. I've never been a victim, nor have I ever witnessed something or anything like this in my life before. And TV does not count.
When you hear someone getting beaten, it's simple. Call the police. When you see someone get beaten, again, just grab a phone and call the police. But when you see someone get beaten no less than two feet in front of you with only a door separating you from the attack, it's a bit unnerving. Calling the police would have been the best choice, but under that kind of stress, it's not as easy as it seems. I was literally shaking, okay?
It doesn't help that I was completely alone in that apartment. Grabbing a knife and standing weak-legged is what was on my agenda, and then quickly locking the bolt lock on the door because my friend had left it unlocked when she left (that can be her fault). Fear clouds your judgement just as well as anger does. For people who have been scared s*itless, it's not an excuse. It's real.
Even after it had gone quiet, I was still too...unsettled...to move from the kitchen. I was also still under the assumption that the couple from earlier had in fact called the police, so I was just standing there waiting. And you know what? I'm still shaking. And I have the chills. I know it's not the A/C because I turned that off a while ago and I'm wrapped in a blanket huddled in front of the computer.
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Posted: Fri Jun 10, 2011 3:40 pm
1) Even if the incident happened a while ago, you still should be calling to at least report it.
2) You said your friend was drinking as well. Regardless whether she was drinking or not, you need to talk to her so that you can both talk to the police about this.
3) If you have empty bottles, jsut dump them before the cops come or hide them. Even if you shove them in a closet, the police wont search for them.
4) No I will never understand your exact position - you are your own person who has lived your own experiences from your own body and was there, just as I am my own person that has lived through my own experiences. I will never be able to understand you, but neither cna you understand me. But the fact that I have gone through my experiences allows me to be empathetic.
You don't know my experiences so please don';t bring them into it. This isn't about me, this is about you. But for the record, I have been through ywhat you have gone throguh in many forms and many times.
I understand you were scared and I'm not lashing out at you, but seriously you should have called the police. I'm giving you an honest critique of what you should have done but didn';t do. This is about being courageous and standing up for soembody who clearly asked for help. That's no time to hide and be afraid. It's also not time to make assumptions. For example, just because the people in the elevator said they would call doesn;t mean you can't call as well.
No, you're don't/won't like what I said, and you're going to think I'm a b***h. But this isn't about me or you, this is about a woman who called out for help. Yeah, you're scared, but use that scared to do something and give her the help she called out for.
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