Being a good witness?

[Tiffany Johnson]

^^^ What Nyeti said ^^^

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G930A using Tapatalk

[Nephrology]

Spoken like a lawyer.....

Personally, any victim or witness who thinks they need an attorney pegs the "more to this" meter in my cop brain. Advice wise.....tell the investigators everything you remember to the best of your ability, and stay off social media with it. The world does not need to know that you witnessed a crime.

Yeah, some local news reporters knocked and asked to talk to me about it. I talked to them briefly, explained that I heard a series of loud bangs but didn't think that they were actual gunshots at the time. did not mention that I had potentially seen suspects or that I had seen anything really at all. Did not give my name and did not let them record my face. He spent most of the time trying to get me to say that it was scary to have a shooting 2 floors down in an otherwise very nice apartment complex which I thought was funny, given that what I heard is that it was a targeted attack on a young teen who was likely involved in gang activity. They are predictable I suppose at the very least.

[K.O.A.M.]

1) Tell the truth
2) "I don't know" or "I didn't see that" is an acceptable answer if it's the truth.
3) Get copies of every statement you made. If they differ from what you now remember, be prepared to explain why.
4) Get a lawyer if you want to, but if you didn't see anything and can't identify any witnesses, you're probably not going to be in this very long.

[BehindBlueI's]

If you can't identify them, then your utility is extremely limited. If my victim was cooperative, I'd get your statement and put it in the file as corroborating statement. I would advise you not to talk to the media. The last thing I need is suspects knowing witnesses cannot identify them.

If its a typical gang shooting where the victim don't know nothin' about nothin' I'd talk to you on the phone, put in case notes you can't identify, and then forget you exist.

[Chance]

Yeah, some local news reporters knocked and asked to talk to me about it.

I'd be curious to read a "handling the media" thread. I saw 'Nightcrawler' a week or so ago, and it'd be my luck that guy would stick a camera in my face.

[pablo]

Don't talk to other witnesses. When witnesses talk, inadvertently they will adapt other accounts that they hear or discuss into the events that they witnessed. Instead of the witness providing an account of what he saw, he'll start providing a big picture narrative about what occurred.

Please answer the phone when the detectives call, 90% of the time witnesses can be dealt with over the phone, it sucks having to waste time tracking down a witness only to find out that they have nothing useful to provide.

[jondoe297]

Just tell them what you saw and heard. Nothing more, nothing less. No opinions, assumptions, beliefs, etc. Once you do that go about your life.

[Nephrology]

If you can't identify them, then your utility is extremely limited. If my victim was cooperative, I'd get your statement and put it in the file as corroborating statement. I would advise you not to talk to the media. The last thing I need is suspects knowing witnesses cannot identify them.

If its a typical gang shooting where the victim don't know nothin' about nothin' I'd talk to you on the phone, put in case notes you can't identify, and then forget you exist.

Yeah, more or less what I suspected. I saw the news report - they did not air whatever they had filmed of me. Media hasn't said much descriptive overall.

From what you guys were telling me and what I sort of intuited from the moment it all went down, I probably will have a brief chat with some detectives on Monday but that will be the end of it. Happy to provide what little info I can. From what I have gathered from various sources, it seems like if I had gotten home from dinner about 30 minutes later, I would have been ~20 yards from the shooting and the suspects would have ran within yards of me as I parked my car. I would have probably been obliged to provide first aid to the victims as they were apparently laid out in the courtyard of my complex.

Honestly, though I do wish in theory that I could have been more help, I am glad that I don't have a bigger piece to play in this nonsense. Can't wait to finally buy a place this summer and get the hell out of here.