Welcome to Spring 2017’s First Edition of Gunshots or Fireworks? Survey Says…

by Prince Of Petworth May 25, 2017 at 9:30 am 13 Comments

Photo by PoPville flickr user Victoria Pickering

Fireworks.

“Gunshots heard on 14th and Randolph St around 10:20PM”

I took it to twitter – final arbiter of such queries:

@PoPville Saw fireworks near Shepherd & New Hampshire. Only went on for 15-30 seconds. Not gunshots.

— Aileen Clarke (@_AileenClarke) May 25, 2017

@lewismg @PoPville It was fireworks at NH and Quincy-ish. I could see them from my window. Maybe from behind Ten Tigers.

— Kathryn Schoenberger (@ktscho) May 25, 2017

Well they were powerful fireworks because they were heard from 8th and Randolph to 16th and Newton.

If you would like to participate in gunshots or fireworks? Please send an email with location to [email protected] or tweet @PoPville. Here’s to hoping for many more similar results as last night.

kallie

i thought gunshots for a second too, until i distilled the unique fizz of fireworks sizzle after the initial booms. sounded like it was right in my backyard at georgia and otis.
Petworthy

It was definitely fireworks. I’m right at Georgia and Quincy and you could hear the crackle and sizzle after the bang. They were also way too consistent for gunshots. And believe me, I know gunshots. I don’t actually. But I’ve seen a lot of TV shows.
- kate
  
  Me too! I actually came here to see if POPville had an explanation for what it was. I have a good view west from my apartment and didn’t see any fireworks, but I definitely heard the “shots.” Not sure what it was, but it was definitely scary. Glad I wasn’t outside.
textdoc

I heard what sounded like five or six gunshots around 10:25-10:26 p.m. last night. I thought they were coming from the direction of the CVS or the Georgia Ave.-Petworth Metro.
.
Last time I heard a noise like that (April 27), I told myself it was fireworks and didn’t call 911… only to learn on PoPville the next day that it had indeed been gunshots and that someone had been shot near the Park View Rec Center.
.
So this time I called 911. I couldn’t even get through for a while — there was a recorded message in English and poorly accented Spanish, telling me to stay on the line. I gave up after a minute and called back a minute or two afterward.
- Emmaleigh504
  
  That 911 situation is scary. It seems like you should get through to a human on the first try. Otherwise a scary situation especially if you are in an emergency situation.
  - textdoc
    
    Exactly. I was thinking, “Good thing I’m not calling to get an ambulance for someone who’s just had a stroke or heart attack.”
amandal

It was definitely fireworks. I was waiting for the bus on the east side of Georgia Avenue at the time and watched them being shot off myself. They were being shot off around New Hampshire and Quincy.
Adam

Thanks for the updates, y’all! I heard these from my bedroom at 5th and Shepherd, thought I could make out the sizzle at the end of the bangs, but wasn’t sure.
- NH Ave Hiker
  
  I used to live between 5th and NH on Shepherd. We must have been pretty close to neighbors
PetworthGuy

Yup definitely fireworks – heard them at Georgia and Randolph.
- alissaaa
  
  I am around the corner and hear them loudly as well. This reminds me that after last year, I vowed to take myself and my dogs out of down for 4th of July since one of my dogs nearly had a heart attack last 4th of July from the mortars that went off all night.
Ben

I live at Georgia and Randolph and saw three fireworks go off around that time. Huge. They seemed to be coming from Quincy and NH
M

Fireworks from NH came from a group house at 8th and NH. My apartment window overlooks their backyard so I also had to listen to them sing happy birthday to someone a few minutes before they went off. Nice for them, but not great for neighbors who get up early or have kids.

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