Excitement in the Neighborhood

We have always felt safe in our neighborhood. But to know that a bank robber is running through with a machine gun at 3:30 in the afternoon is a bit disconcerting.

Jack had just gotten home from school when he thought he heard fire works nearby. The booms really echo between these apartment buildings. Shortly after that, and for the next hour, we heard dozens of sirens. Then Justin, who was on the tram heading toward the city, texted us to say there were many emergency vehicles in the street two blockhouses over. It was then obvious that it was shooting Jack had heard.

Here is the story as we know it. Three men were involved in robbing a bank on Fö utca (Main Street) just to the northwest of us. It is one of our favorite pedestrian streets in the neighborhood. At some point, the police gave chase, apprehending one man. But the man with the machine gun continued. The husband of one of our colleagues heard shouting and looked out his window to see the police running and shouting, "Drop the gun! Stop!" Then the shooting, going on in both directions. The gunman was killed in Szigligeti Street.

The third man was caught quite a bit later. Some witnesses thought he had run into one of the apartment buildings, so one stair-house (maybe 35 apartments) was closed over night while police conducted their search. All of these families stayed in a nearby school. But he was not in this apartment building.

It is amazing that no one else was hurt at this time. Our neighborhood is always so full of people walking here or there, and at 3:30 students are returning home from school. We know that God is here; He is God of the city.