My roommate and his friend got robbed and shot at tonight

[Guest WyattEarp]

Your observations are spot on. I have friends and family all through the Smyrna, LaVergne, and Murfreesboro area and it is truly a sad situation. I've told my wife on more than one occasion that I want to move back to a small town - though the big downside is finding meaningful employment in a small town.

the trick to that is, find a nice little town within 30-45 minutes of a big city, but just away from all the nonsense. I'll gladly drive 30-60 minutes to work just to avoid living in the city.

[Links2k]

You're friend is an idiot chasing after them.

That's what I was thinking. He's been watching too much tv.

[Guest WyattEarp]

stay tuned to Channel 5 this evening, they just interviewed my roommate on camera here at the apt complex, it'll be on either 5 or 6 pm news.

lol.

[Guest Lester Weevils]

Hi WyattEarp

Dunno if you need to move all the way to OK to find open space.

I haven't lived there, but when visiting have admired the scenery in Polk county TN. Maybe would like to move there sometime. Population may be bigger now but as of Y2K it supposedly had a county population of 16050.

POLK County, TN

The main metropolises (according to the above web site Y2K census numbers) Benton pop 4,714, Copperhill pop 2,471, Ducktown pop 625, Ocoee pop 1,357, Reliance pop 1034, Conasauga pop 151, etc.

Some wikipedia pages on these places quote smaller Y2K census numbers, so dunno how accurate the numbers are. Some of the places are unincorporated so the population guestimate may just include a general region surrounding each place on the map? Last time I was in Reliance it was a combination small store + post office, and a few whitewater rafting businesses. Can't see where 1034 folks would be hiding unless that number includes a wide surrounding area? The store was neat. You can send/receive mail, buy food, fishing supplies, or even a fan belt for yer tractor at least if one of the fan belts on the wall fits yer tractor.

====

My birth origin in Talladaga County AL seems wildly overpopulated in comparison, with a Y2K population of 80,321. Maybe it is a big county, because that is about 25 percent of the population of Chattanooga's Hamilton County, but it gives the impression of sparser population. Last time I was down there IIRC the combined white/yellow pages for the nearby towns of Talladega, Childersburg and Sylacauga was at best a quarter inch thick. More like a phone booklet.

However, that area seems quickly becoming merely a bedroom suburb of Birmingham. Maybe it will get pretty densely populated eventually.

TALLADEGA County, AL

[china coaster]

Where I live is a little over an hour from MTSU. When I and others from our class went to UT we refered to MTSU as a suitcase college. Most of our friends went there. I go to the VA in M'boro for my health care and the town has exploded in the past 15 years or so. They have what long time Tennesseans call the Atlanta syndrom. The want to grow and be like Atlanta. Nashville has that problem as well. The only thing preventing the M'boro from getting large national conventions is their lack of a large convention center.

[Guest GunTroll]

the trick to that is, find a nice little town within 30-45 minutes of a big city, but just away from all the nonsense. I'll gladly drive 30-60 minutes to work just to avoid living in the city.

Good luck with that! I thought the same thing when choosing Springfield. I moved here from the mega city of Denver CO. My wife got a job in Clarksville and has friends in Brentwood. One plane trip down here to TN told me I didn't want to be in Clarksville. One look into real estate told me I didn't want to pay to be in Brentwood. Split the difference sort of and picked Springfield, Robertson Co. Just herd we have had three murders this summer or very recently anyways. One of the murdered people was a daughter of a friend. I here our county jail houses inmates from elsewhere. Maybe thats very common. I guess when their time is up they get dumped onto our streets to fend for themselves.....folks die, sadly. No where is what it was.

I have a five year plan. Just hope I last that long!

Your flatmates are lucky!

[Guest WyattEarp]

Hi WyattEarp

Dunno if you need to move all the way to OK to find open space.

I want to go there for several reasons lol, not just to get away from big city crime and find open space. Oklahoma is in the heart of tornado country, and as a storm chaser, that's where I need to be so I can do what I love most! Plus it's 5 hours from Colorado, 2 hours from Dallas, 3 hours from New Mexico, just lots to do and see around that area. Somewhere around Oklahoma City, OK.

I cannot even comprehend how two people, at an ATM no less let their SA down enough to let this happen. Of course if they do not and were not carrying they probably dont have the kind of SA that most of us do to begin with.

well first off, they had no business being at an ATM on the back side of a bank next to a line of tree's late at night, that's asking for trouble. However, the assailants were obviously waiting behind the trees for someone to take advantage of. Even had the 2 victims been a bit more aware of their surroundings, all 4 were on foot, and 2 were armed, so if they had taken off when they saw the guys, they still could have ended up shot. additionally they're only 20 years old, so probably (and from what I can tell) neither the roommate or his friend are accustomed to these things happening, and have limited street smarts (because if they did, they'd have known not to go the ATM in the first place!), so chalk that one up to them being naive, tough lesson to learn, but not a terribly costly one (albeit $120 lost is a lot to a broke college kid struggling to pay his bills while in school).

The good news is these 2 criminals won't be at large for long. I overheard the apt manager talking today while in the office, and the ATM captured the 2 thugs pictures on camera (the quality of the pictures from the video camera on the ATM is not known yet), so if those pics are any good, someone will recognize them and turn them and they'll hopefully be arrested, convicted and thrown into their cages where they belong. Either that or they'll try again and either they'll get caught, or they might not be so lucky and encounter someone who is carrying, and get served a final meal of hot lead.

[QuietDan]

stay tuned to Channel 5 this evening, they just interviewed my roommate on camera here at the apt complex, it'll be on either 5 or 6 pm news.

lol.

Here's the web posting:

Gunmen Rob MTSU Student At ATM - NewsChannel5.com | Nashville News, Weather & Sports

[ls3_kid]

I'm from Atlanta and calling it a big town does no justice. The crime there is out of control. Luckily I grew up in a nicer part but there are places 20 minutes down the road where you just don't go.

[Guest Cogent Design]

I graduated from MTSU last year and I couldn't wait to get away from that area. Too many stupid people around there.

[Guest WyattEarp]

Suspects have been caught, arrested, and booked! Hats off to the Murfreesboro PD, they had these guys caught in under 48 hours, yeah!!! way to go MPD!

Two Men Arrested For Robbery Of MTSU Student At ATM - NewsChannel5.com | Nashville News, Weather & Sports