[narrator] Sometimes even the friendlies streets have animosity buried deep.
-Turn it down a notch? -We can play it as loud as we want.
They were completely opposite of what the neighborhood was.
-Hi. -You're parked in our spot.
They were a little obnoxious.
Move your car to your side.
I tried to avoid those conversations.
[narrator] And sometimes it takes a new-comer...
He was very quiet and kept to himself.
...to dig it all up.
Hey! Freaking wuss!
They just had conflicting personalities.
Hey, get back here. I'm talking to you!
Like, why would you have that reaction?
Shut the hell up while you're at it.
They were looking for revenge.
[firecracker bursting]
Who the hell do you think you are?
I wasn't expecting it to escalate into what it did.
Get in the house!
The terror in their eyes
was something I'll never forget.
[indistinct shouting]
[gunshot]
[man] I know what you did.
[gunshot]
[woman] Stay out of my neighborhood!
[man] Stay away from my drive.
On the ground now!
[woman screaming]
[gunshot]
[narrator] Wilkes-Barre is a small city nestled in Pennsylvania
just 20 miles from Scranton.
It's the kind of place
where everyone knows everyone else.
Westberg Street is a very quiet part
of the suburbs of Wilkes-Barre.
It's just kids playing in the street.
It's just a small little town within a big city.
Hey, buster, let's get your jacket on.
[narrator] This street is the perfect place
for Shannon Lai to raise her two kids.
[Shannon laughs]
[Shannon] I had twins at the time and I was just
a single mom raising my children
in a quiet, polite, clean neighborhood.
[Shannon] Here we go.
-Hey, guys. -[Shannon laughs] Oh.
-Hi. -Hi.
[woman] How you doing?
It was kind of we all looked out for one another.
-Hey. -Hey, how are you?
The neighbors are great...
It's somewhere you could just sit outside and relax.
It's a very nice street to live on.
[narrator] Betty Mitchell and her two children,
19-year-old Rowan and 18-year-old Gary
have called this neighborhood home for years.
Everyone's really friendly with each other
or always gives a friendly, "Hi, how are you doing?" when they're outside.
[Rowan] All of our neighbors are very close-knit,
like, we all talked to each other
and just, like, really tight-knit.
Especially the kids. They all liked to spend time together.
[narrator] So naturally, whenever someone new moves in,
everyone is very curious.
Jeffrey Spaide is a retired veteran
who is now an engineer.
Jeffrey proudly served the United States Navy
as a shipboard engineering technician
before going into United States Army National Guard
and eventually the United States Navy Reserve.
He was very reserved.
He kept to himself.
He was friendly, but he was a quiet guy.
[narrator] And Jeffrey seems to have found
the quiet neighborhood he was looking for.
He was always doing something around his house.
[Rowan] He worked on his house a lot.
He was very particular about the care of his home.
Everything was always perfect to a T.
He was always doing work on it.
Ripping off the old siding, huh?
[narrator] Part of the welcoming committee
includes his neighbors
who lived directly across from him.
What's the point of stacking it up so nice?
Just gonna end up in the dump.
Well, doesn't hurt to keep things tidy.
[narrator] Lisa and James Goy
have resided on this street for nearly 15 years.
They were nice people, the house was well maintained.
[Betty] They had each other's back. I never heard them fight.
Honestly, I never heard them
argue with each other or anything.
They were good for each other.
[narrator] Things are okay now, but they won't be for long.
-Hey! -Back off!
[narrator] It takes all types to make a neighborhood
and get a celebration started.
Hi. We're having a party.
What's this?
Party, Friday night, on the block. You should come.
Someone would just come up with an idea to say like,
"Hey, you know, let's have a party."
And then we would just meet and then have a good time.
You'll get to meet everybody.
Jeffrey wasn't the type to come to a barbeque.
Thanks. Yeah, I'll try.
I always was under the impression that
he just wanted to keep to himself,
just one of those people that didn't like to socialize.
Party!
[narrator] The Goys on the other hand...
Hell yeah!
-...are always up for a good time. -We're in!
Amazing.
I'll go tell everybody. Have a good day, guys.
Bye.
Hey. You're going to this, right?
I don't know.
I got a lot of stuff to do.
Oh, man. Come on!
-Listen up. -That was rude.
The Goys were more outspoken, out in the neighborhood more,
you know, where Jeffrey stayed at home.
[Cody] Jeffrey was pretty quiet, doing a 9:00 to 5:00 job.
I think that a lot of veterans keep quiet to themselves
and only express themselves when other people open up.
I mean, everybody enjoys peace and quiet.
[narrator] Jeffrey doesn't know it yet,
but he's not going to get that here.
[all laughing]
[music playing on speaker]
...and he said, "Are you sure?"
[both laugh]
I'll never forget it.
I was a little bit flattered, you know?
Who wouldn't want to, like, you know, hang out with us?
You know what I mean?
They were always loud, laughing, um,
at the parties and things that they would have.
I mean, seriously. What's wrong with people, huh?
[Betty] They'd get a little loud.
You know, just being themselves and having a good time.
[James laughing]
Hey! Can you turn it up a little? Will ya?
[music playing on speaker]
I'll take care of it.
[music increases in volume]
Now, that's more like it.
[muted sound of music]
Hey, can you turn it down a notch?
Come on. It's a free country.
We can play it as loud as we want. What's it like in China?
[Gary] They're not very respectable
when it comes to being around people
and knowing how to use, like, polite language.
It was, it was a little obnoxious.
Hey, man, you coming out?
Come on!
[Lisa] Maybe he's not out yet.
[both laugh]
-[Lisa] He's not out yet. -[James laughs]
[James] Cheers, guys! Whoo-hoo!
[narrator] A big party leads to a big mess.
And soon it snowballs into a bigger problem.
The Goys are very particular
about the driveway they share with Shannon.
They were very territorial, should you say.
Hey!
Do you mind keeping your garbage on your side of the driveway?
They overreacted quite a bit when it came to some things.
I'm, I'm sorry. I'm coming.
You should know better. Jeez.
It was intimidating. Like, why would you have that reaction?
I'm sorry. I'm just, I'm trying to tidy up.
[Gary] Whatever day you catch Lisa on
is what kind of mood you catch her in.
[narrator] And so far Jeff has only caught Lisa in a bad mood.
Is there a problem?
Kind of a creep, isn't he?
Precious little creep.
[narrator] Even though Jeffrey is the new neighbor on the street,
he feels it's the Goys that don't quite fit in.
Not only do they have issues with the property line they share with Shannon,
they also have issues with the Mitchells on the other side.
[Betty] I was just cleaning the rocks.
Like, cleaning all the vines and everything out of it
and just, kind of, restacking it.
[phone ringing]
Well, the one fell over and hit the Goys' fence.
And like, just knocked into their fence.
It didn't knock it down or anything like that.
[Betty] She had wire tied a note to the back on cardboard.
In case you forget.
I was like, "Okay."
Like, it was just odd.
Like, I don't know why she couldn't have just come to me and been like...
Instead of leaving a childish, you know, kindergarten project stuck to the back of my fence.
You have to be pretty petty
to leave a note on a fence over a few rocks.
That kind of changed my views.
[narrator] And from Jeffrey's point of view
the Goys have serious issues
when it comes to protecting their turf.
[Rowan] They weren't as meticulous as Jeffrey was, but I feel that
they were more territorial than he was.
[Gary] They would get mad about the small things.
Like, if grass was growing up to their side of the fence.
[narrator] But their biggest trigger seems to be parking.
Hey. Watch it.
You came up way too fast.
Don't you know how to drive?
Be careful, man.
If they were angry, they were angry.
And, and it excelled quickly.
-And anyway, you can't park there. -Back off!
[narrator] Jeffrey may be quiet, but he's no push-over.
Who do you think you are?
Get a grip.
Shut the hell up while you're at it.
I'd never witnessed anybody saying anything to them before this.
Hey! Who the hell do you think you're talking to? Huh?
It just snowballed from there.
Get back here!
[narrator] Things are getting awkward,
but soon they'll get deadly.
Move your car to your side.
What's your problem, man?
[screaming]
[narrator] In small neighborhoods with shared driveways,
street parking can be tight.
But the Goys don't have one vehicle.
They have three.
[Shannon] Jim Goy would park his everyday use of a car
in the driveway or on the street
but he would bring home, like,
his work van and park that in the driveway
or on the street.
More days than not parking was a problem.
[narrator] And the driveway they share with Shannon Lai is a constant battleground.
Hey! Move your car to your side.
Okay. I'm sorry. I-- Okay.
[Shannon] He's like, "You parked too close.
I'm gonna have it towed
or I'm just gonna hit your car."
I'm like... "Okay, not a problem. I'll move it."
[Betty] If your bumper is, like,
an inch towards their driveway,
they'll tell you you're too close.
There. Was that so hard?
-Stupid. -Excuse me?
[Rowan] They did not care who they offended with what they were saying
and they made a lot of remarks that were very inappropriate
and, um, offensive.
[Shannon] Let's go inside.
When he would have his reactions
and if my children were out front,
I would just take them inside or go in the backyard
to, you know, remove myself from that situation.
[narrator] James Goy goes out of his way to mark his territory.
[Shannon] And then Jim Goy spray painted a line
to say this is where your parking starts.
Is it clear?
[Shannon] I thought he was an [bleep].
I'm like, that was kind of an [bleep] move.
[narrator] And it's not just the neighbors that think
the Goys have an attitude problem.
Anyone who happens to visit the street
is subject to their anger.
You're parked in our spot.
If anybody ever parked in their parking spot,
they would be knocking on your door
and a lot of the times it was people who were visiting
and didn't know.
I'm not parking. I'm just waiting for my girlfriend.
For your what?
-Hey. -Hey.
-Sorry I'm late. -It's okay.
Really? You're one of those?
They knew at the time that I had a girlfriend
and they had made a couple jokes about it.
One of what?
[Rowan] But I knew that I was not going to change their mind
and I am not the type to engage in an argument even if they were.
They were completely opposite of what the neighborhood was.
Like, we were very, you know, friendly.
We were very open-minded.
Not them.
I figure that little display
doesn't bother somebody like you.
What's that supposed to mean?
Hey, sorry. Didn't mean to hurt your delicate little feelings.
Go back to your precious little garden.
Seriously. What kind of man is he?
Jim and Lisa were very homophobic people.
And I, I don't necessarily know
if Jeffrey was gay or bi or anything like that, but they picked on him.
They would almost be looking for things to find wrong
in order to get revenge for
whatever disagreement there was.
Could you move so I can turn around?
You got plenty of room.
[Betty] Basically, she used that area
to back up out of her driveway.
I guess she needed that extra room.
Hey. I told you already, you can't park there.
Move your car!
Put it in your driveway
beside your crap.
[narrator] And Jeffrey Spaide has no time to put up with James' attitude.
Hey, get back here. I'm talking to you.
What's your problem, man?
What am I supposed to do? Just sit here?
Jesus. Freaking nerve.
The way they would handle situations definitely wasn't the best.
[Betty] Say it was somebody they didn't like,
they could be vindictive.
[narrator] James Goy finds a new way to antagonize his neighbor.
[firecracker bursting]
[Gary] He would just throw firecrackers.
It almost sounded like a .22, like a rifle, kinda going off.
Almost like a gunshot.
[James laughing]
[firecrackers bursting]
Who the hell do you think you are?
[James] Oh, shut up.
I'm just having a little fun, relax.
Are you insane?
Why don't you go back inside, put a little skirt on?
There was a lot of yelling and it was... it was very loud.
[James] What? You think you got what it takes?
You'll see exactly what I got, buddy.
Where do you think you are right now, huh?
-Where? -You're standing on our property, little man.
You know what I can do on my property?
Huh?
I can beat your sorry ass to a little pulp
and the police would come by
and they would say I had every right to do it.
The law is on my side here.
Not yours.
Go ahead. I dare you.
I know people.
It was just, go ahead and call the police and nothing's gonna be done.
Yeah. Walk away, little man.
He would just mumble under his breath and walk away.
Don't call him a man. He's a wuss.
[intense music playing]
No one really saw it coming.
[screaming]
Don't park here. This is our spot.
They're planning something.
You do this?
[siren wailing]
-[James] Why the hell do you think... -[Lisa] You smug...
You don't bother us so much.
[Betty] It was nerve wracking. Just because I don't like confrontation to begin with.
So just listening to it was kind of crazy that it was that big of a deal.
[narrator] The tension on West Bergh Street is about to get a whole lot worse.
If Jeffrey parking in front of his house was an issue before...
[James] Hey.
...it's now a bylaw infraction.
It's now officially illegal for you to park there.
What are you talking about?
Lookie, lookie.
We were like, "How did that no parking sign get there?"
[Rowan] It looks like it's supposed to be a parking spot
but I know that the no parking sign
was actually put up by the township...
...which didn't make sense to me.
[narrator] It may have been put up by the authorities
but Jeffrey assumes he knows who is to blame.
You do this?
It may have been a vindictive move by the Goys.
[Jeffrey] But why?
Why put a sign out in front of my house?
It doesn't make any sense!
There's no reason!
[narrator] Jeffrey calls the township and demands an explanation,
but he doesn't get one.
Everyone else on the street
gets to park in front of their house.
From what I understand, he did try to fight it.
Are you kidding?
[narrator] Jeffrey and many of the other neighbors
believed the Goys pulled some strings to put the signs up.
Yeah. Oh, that makes great--
Yeah, that's perfect sense.
Okay. Yeah.
Did the Goys have connections?
This is a small town in north-eastern Pennsylvania.
Does somebody know somebody in the police department
or the clerk down at the county courthouse?
Chances are we'll never know.
[narrator] Jeffrey loses the right to park in front of his own home.
Although he still has a driveway, he remains angry.
Nevertheless, the veteran is determined to stand his ground.
[Gary] I feel like he didn't move away 'cause he liked this house
and he took a lot of pride and
it was nice neighborhood. It was a nice place to live.
So I feel like that's why he never wanted to move.
[narrator] The Goys aren't going anywhere either.
[Gary] I think they act like the neighborhood's theirs.
If you were to point out a neighborhood bully, it would be them.
Like, it was their way or the highway.
[narrator] And James is going to make sure things are done his way.
Hey! Slow down!
What the hell do you think this is, a drag race?
[Shannon] If he felt like the car was going too fast,
he would come out and yell at the moving car.
Did you see that idiot?
And some, you know, derogatory remarks as well.
It was uncalled for. That definitely was uncalled for.
What the hell is wrong with people?
[Betty] I tried to avoid those conversations.
What the hell is wrong with everyone?
[narrator] But the main thorn in the Goys' side
is people parking in front of their house.
I told you, don't park here.
This is our spot! Move your car!
They would just come out yelling, "Get the F out of here."
It wasn't like they would come out of their house and,
"Oh, can you please move your car?"
Like, "You're parking in my spot."
Don't you have anything better to do
than yell at people for parking in the wrong spot?
I think they had anger issues.
[narrator] The mandate doesn't go both ways.
The Goys park wherever they want.
Including in neighbor Shannon Lai's spot.
[Rowan] The Goys definitely didn't always seem like
they felt the rules applied to them.
[narrator] No one in the neighborhood wants to risk the Goys' wrath.
It just became an irate situation.
I kept my encounters with the Goys very minimal.
Um, pretty much, just let me know if my house is on fire.
You know, like that type of relationship
and I will return the favor.
I've personally never seen anyone confront them.
I've never seen any neighbor retaliate back.
[narrator] Jeffrey is the first to fight back against his bully neighbors.
It's why he's the main focus of their ire.
[Rowan] It just didn't get better.
They seemed to like to hold grudges.
Hey, you freaking wuss!
I know they targeted him a lot.
You need to be a man to do that kinda work.
[Gary] I don't see why they would wanna fight with Jeffrey,
considering he was such a quiet guy,
and he kept to himself so much.
You're not a man, are you? You're a loser.
A little pansy.
[Betty] They would just yell at him over everything.
They would call him a [bleep].
You know, just vulgar names.
♪ If you're pansy And you know it Dig a rock ♪
It was always Jim calling him just slurs and stuff like that.
[James] You're kinda like a tutti-frutti.
♪ If you're pansy And you know it Dig a rock ♪
Stuff along the lines of sexuality kinda slurs.
♪ If you're pansy And you know it ♪
♪ And you really wanna-- ♪
[sarcastically] Whoa, mister tough guy!
-Come on, let's see what you've got. -[Lisa giggles sarcastically]
[James] Aw!
Poor baby!
Why don't you go inside and call the police?
Jim would say, "I know the Plains Township Police.
I have family in the Plains Township Police."
-[James chuckling] -[Lisa] Let's see how good that'll do you.
That's right.
But there is no proof
of the local police department even knowing the Goys.
[narrator] Whether or not the Goys have friends in high places,
the rest of the neighbors are getting fed up with them.
Can you believe what they did at the party the other day?
I don't understand. We can't put up with this much longer.
[Shannon] We've had conversations
that they were a problematic neighbor.
But what do we do?
[Shannon] I think a lot of people were kind of fed up with the Goys,
their whole persona, the bullying...
They're planning something. I know it.
[Lisa whispering] They're so strange.
[narrator] The Goys are ready to protect themselves,
and their property.
[Rowan] The Goys were proud gun owners.
-They had all kinds of firearms. - [gun cocking]
And they were vocal about having them as well.
[narrator] In addition to being well armed,
the Goys are determined to know what's going on
in the neighborhood at all times.
Their watchful eyes patrol the street.
[Betty] They put up a surveillance camera.
We never really had crime in the area,
so, I'm like, I didn't know what they were gonna catch with it.
[Cody] There were two pointing right across the street,
at Jeffrey's house.
Now, were they put up because of a feud,
or did they put them up for security reasons?
[narrator] Jeffrey doesn't like the fact that the Goys are monitoring him.
Hey, what are you doing?
-Hey, point those things away from my house! -[James] Yeah?
What are you gonna do about it, huh?
Are you man enough to do anything? Huh?
Come on, let's go!
Man up... if you can.
That's right.
That's right. Walk away, you little chicky.
[imitating chicken]
Yeah...
[narrator] Yet, the Goys aren't the only ones who are armed.
[Cody] Jeffrey had many guns in his house.
He had weapons in the garage.
He had weapons pretty much every corner of the house.
He was ready to act at any moment.
[indistinct shouting]
[narrator] All the once chummy neighbors on West Bergh Street,
are keeping their distance these days.
It was just like... If we have a get-together,
is it gonna be an issue for the Goys?
I dare you.
[narrator] But the main tension is between the Goys and Jeffrey Spaide.
[Cody] The neighbors hoped that the two neighbors
would settle it themselves.
So, do I think that neighbors knew something,
between the two parties and the tension? Yes.
Do the neighbors think that it would've ever gotten
to the point of what happened?
No. Until it did.
[narrator] When Shannon finds a larger house,
she's happy to move away from the simmering tension next door.
[Shannon] Are you ready to go, boys?
[both] Yeah, let's go!
[Shannon laughs]
When I moved, there was a lot of, you know, confrontation on the street.
-I was fed up with the Goys, their whole persona. -[car starting]
So, I was lucky to move.
[narrator] She will later learn she left just in time.
As the animosity between the neighbors reaches a boiling point,
-a blizzard ravages Wilkes-Barre. - [wind whooshing]
[Cody] Northeastern Pennsylvania was gearing up
for a major snowstorm.
About two feet of snow was expected to fall.
[Rowan] There was a heavy storm overnight,
that continued throughout the day.
We got more snow than we had in years.
[narrator] But there is an even bigger storm coming.
The next morning, the neighborhood wakes up to a winter wonderland.
There was already a blanket of snow down.
So, it was one of those quiet days,
when the snow is on the ground,
and it's kind of insulated.
[narrator] While Betty Mitchell makes her way
through the snow to get to work,
her kids, Rowan and Gary stay home.
[Rowan] On that morning, I was in my bedroom.
I was actually sleeping at first.
They had closed my work for that day,
so I took the opportunity to sleep in.
Everything was quiet and peaceful.
[Gary] I met up with my friend.
And we were sitting down there, playing games, and just talking.
And it was obviously cold.
But it just felt like a normal, peaceful winter morning.
I wasn't expecting it to escalate into what it did.
[narrator] Jeffrey Spaide is the first one to head outside to shovel his property.
Jeffrey had his driveway...
One of the largest driveways on West Bergh Street...
already cleared.
While the Goys had started to clear their side
of the road, and push the snow across the road,
and onto Jeffrey's property.
Jeffrey was not too thrilled about this.
What the hell do you think you're doing?
[James] Hey!
And the Goys did not think it was a big deal,
of pushing the snow across the road.
[James] Hey, back off, you jerk!
I just cleared this!
Keep it on your side of the street, you stupid moron.
Jeffrey reacted, and made the Goys mad.
Hey! Who the hell do you think you are, huh?
You sissy, you coward!
[thuds]
You're not a real man.
You scumbag! Jesus...
-Who, me? -Yeah, you!
An argument started happening, swear words...
You're the scumbag!
Who the hell do you think you are, mother--
And anything that you can imagine.
And that's when Jeffrey had enough.
[no audio]
[narrator] What happens next is captured on the Goys' security camera.
[James] I'll make your life a living hell living here. [bleep]
-[Jeffrey] What? -[James] You heard me. [bleep]
-[bleep] -[James] You would probably--
-[Lisa] You're the [bleep] scumbag! -[James shouting indistinctly]
[Lisa] You don't even [bleep] with nobody!
[James] He's got [bleep]. You're a [bleep]. [bleep] you!
[bleep]
[Lisa yelling] Go ahead. Go ahead.
Go ahead. Go ahead.
[gunshots]
[Lisa yelling indistinctly]
[James screaming] Argh!
[Lisa screaming indistinctly]
[James continues screaming] Call the cops!
He shot me!
-[Lisa] You [bleep]-- -[gunshots]
[James screaming] No!
Don't come! Tammy!
[gunshots]
At that point, I looked back out my window,
and I was just kinda looking to see what was going on.
[game music playing]
Wait, pause the game.
[game music stops]
What was that sound?
It did not sound like a gun.
It kinda sounded like someone was taking a hammer,
and, like, hitting the metal on the side of a car
really hard, or something like that.
[James screaming] No! Don't come! Tammy!
[gunshot]
[gun clicks]
[Lisa wailing] [bleep] Jim!
[indistinct shouting]
[Lisa] Oh, my God!
[Lisa] Jimmy! Jimmy!
[Gary] Me and my friend throw on shoes real quick,
-and we go outside... -[Lisa shouting indistinctly]
[Gary] First thing I heard when I walked outside,
was Lisa crying her husband's name.
And I was like, "Oh, okay, what's going on?"
I saw Lisa laying on the ground,
and she had a whole puddle of blood around her and everything.
Jim was laying right in between the two cars,
and he got shot in the lungs,
and all's we heard was deep gasping.
[Gary] Are you okay?
As we were turning around, that's when we saw Jeffrey coming out the second time
with the AR-15,
and he kinda pointed it at us.
Then we turned around and we went back.
I was kinda like, "Hope this man doesn't shoot me."
I was like, "I don't really wanna die today."
-[Jeffrey] You should've kept your [bleep]. -[gunshots]
[James] I'll make your life a living hell living here. [bleep]
[Jeffrey] What?
[James] You heard me.
[bleep]
When Jeffrey came out with a pistol,
you could hear...
Oh, really?
...the husband and wife egging Jeffrey on...
[Lisa yelling] Go ahead. Go ahead.
...to shoot them.
[gunshots]
If you know you're in a high escalating situation,
and someone specifically goes back to their house,
and comes back with a gun, points it at you,
and you egg them on?
[gunshots]
We got video--
-[gunshots] -[James screaming] Argh!
-[gunshots] -[Lisa screaming] Argh!
Call the cops! Argh!
So me and my friend Dylan were like, "Oh, what? What is that?"
When I saw Lisa laying on the ground,
I saw she had some blood on her face and on her shirt,
I was like, "This isn't no snowblower accident."
-What happened? -[Lisa screaming] Jimmy!
-[Gary] What happened? -[James gasping]
[Gary] We kinda walked forward more and looked to the left,
and Jim was like...
[gasping loudly]
-Call 911! -[Lisa screaming] Jimmy!
-[Gary] We start turning around... -[Lisa] Jimmy!
That's when we saw Jeffrey coming out.
[Lisa] Jimmy!
[Rowan] I saw him walk back out
with a rifle.
[Lisa] Jimmy!
[indistinct]
Get in the house!
Seeing the terror in their eyes,
was something I'll never forget.
We turn around and we run back in my house.
Let's go! In the house!
I saw him walk up to her...
You should've kept your [bleep] mouth shut!
[gunshot]
And I remember thinking what do I do in this situation?
[James gasping]
[bleep] Huh?
[narrator] As dead silence settles on the street outside,
panic breaks out in the Mitchell house.
After that, I quickly ran to get my brothers
to go into the basement.
We have firearms in my house,
so we armed ourselves.
Take this!
-What are these? -[Gary] Just in case.
Everything was loaded.
We had all the guns out. We were ready to go.
Because, we didn't know what he was gonna do next.
I never thought I would have to...
Get behind this!
...prepare myself to get ready to possibly shoot at another human being.
And like, shoot at my neighbor because he's out there
going crazy with an AR-15!
[narrator] While her brother, Gary and his friend prepare for the worst,
Rowan calls for help.
[busy tone]
How can 911 be busy?
-Dudes! -[Gary] Sorry!
-Take cover! -[Rowan] Seriously?
[Rowan] I remember calling the police,
as soon as I realized what was happening,
-and the line was actually busy. -[busy tone]
And I remember just thinking,
"I can't be on hold. There's people dying."
[narrator] The Mitchells are not the only ones who dial 911.
The switchboard is flooded with calls.
But the snow slows the response time.
It was just like this moment that seemed to last so long
waiting for help to come.
[no audio]
[gunshot]
[Rowan] It was dead quiet on the street.
There was no noise at all.
It was so quiet from the snow as well.
It was just like... Everything stopped.
-[narrator] After what feels like an eternity... - [sirens wailing]
...the police finally show up on West Bergh Street.
The State troopers were the first people to respond to the scene.
[siren wailing]
As soon as the police arrived, they went right to his house.
[officer speaking indistinctly over radio]
They were getting ready to go into his house.
[gunshot]
We heard the final gunshot.
And that was him taking his own life.
[narrator] After the shock wears off,
the horrifying reality of the event sinks in.
It's gruesome.
-[camera shutter clicking] -It's shocking.
It's horrific that it could've even gotten to this point.
[panting]
[Rowan] I remember calling my mom.
She was at work.
And all I could say was, "The neighbors are dead."
It took me a minute to even wrap my head around it.
And then I asked her who.
And she said all three of them.
I immediately came home.
[narrator] The heavy snow makes it difficult for the bodies to be removed.
The coroner took a long time to get there.
It was the most snow we've seen in years.
And while they were waiting for the coroner to arrive,
their bodies were just in the streets for hours.
[Gary] It was weird.
It was almost like the silence that echoes in your head...
like, the ringing kinda silence.
And it was kinda weird
that the bodies were laying in the road for so long.
It got very eerie.
[Betty] After everything was over,
it affected a lot of people.
[tense music playing]
[narrator] It's not just the neighborhood that witnesses the horror.
The shocking surveillance footage, is leaked for the world to see.
-[gunshots] -[James and Lisa screaming] Argh!
[Cody] And within hours of the incident happening,
there's video circulating around the internet.
We're talking YouTube, Facebook, Reddit, Twitter.
[narrator] Shannon may have escaped the neighborhood...
[no audio]
...but she can't escape the trauma.
[Shannon] I saw the video on social media.
I immediately reached out to my neighbors,
and I just simply asked, "Is this true?"
Is this Jim and Lisa Goy?
[voice shaking] It was twisted.
It was sick and twisted.
[Lisa] Oh, my God!
[Betty] I was pretty upset.
I called the local news station.
I called our local police department.
I tried to get a hold of YouTube.
And then, at that point, it was... it was everywhere.
You know? And there was no stopping it.
[Lisa yelling] Go ahead. Go ahead.
[Gary] If someone was pointing a gun at me,
I wouldn't be encouraging them to shoot me.
I'd be like, "Hey, I'm sorry. It's a misunderstanding.
It doesn't need to go this far."
[narrator] Some believe Jeffrey suffered from PTSD from his time in the military.
[Rowan] A lot of people were using it to bring up mental healthcare as well,
especially for veterans.
There's a chance that he could've seen or gone through a lot.
[narrator] West Bergh Street is left shattered.
It's just shocking that it boils down to two parties
disagreeing and arguing, and it ends in violence!
[Lisa yelling] Go ahead. Go ahead.
[narrator] Gary Mitchell doesn't need to see the video to relive the terror.
Every winter is a reminder of the carnage that unfolded that day.
[Gary] Like, every time it snows, I'm just like, "Oh, this is weird."
Like not even just anywhere, but specifically on my street.
It's just when it snows, there's just kinda...
kind of brings you back to it almost. It's weird.
February 1st of 2021 was definitely a tragedy.
Treat people with kindness!
Even if you can't really tolerate them,
or deal with them, like...
You know, treat people the way that you wanna be treated,
and just be kind
to your neighbors, at the very least.
This season on Fear Thy Neighbor...
They were lovely. It was very cordial.
Welcome to the neighborhood.
You should meet the rest of the family.
They were very friendly people.
Donna!
Anne!
Those years were very happy years.
[laughter]
That's where it kinda turned for the worse.
What is all the noise?!
It just seemed like they had opposing personalities.
He was very creepy, very weird, very odd.
He kept to himself.
I didn't know you had gotten married.
He would deadbolt her in.
I think the devil took over.
What does she have to do? Kill somebody?
I wasn't expecting it to escalate into what it did.
You're on my land!
Face me like a man!
Aghhh!
Sheer terror.
[scream]
[man yelling]
No!
I want my freaking money!
It was like gasoline and fire.
Shut the hell up while you're at it.
[over speaker] Joel, I've got two down.