In light of recent events, The Verge apartment complex should consider changing their complimentary lease gifts at the front office from cookies to bulletproof vests.

You heard right…free Kevlar body armor for all those brave enough to live in the war-zone formerly known as Jefferson Commons.

In the first half of my yearlong lease agreement, the terror alert was for Jefferson Commons was at the yellow stage. A few “isolated incidents” had taken place within the walls of the Commons and one right outside its borders. The shooting at the AM/PM on the corner of 4th Avenue and 65th Street was, to my knowledge, the only incident that caught a lot of attention. A few weeks prior, rumors flew around the complex about a pistol whipping and an Uzi renegade, but the facts were never official or too clear.

The terror alert reached the orange stage a month or two later when a woman was held up at gunpoint one morning in her own apartment. The suspect was never apprehended and the woman/student never received her complimentary body armor.

After the ownership change, from Jefferson Commons to College Park, the complex seemed to be on the up and up. More security guards were hanging out at the entrance gate than before and the tow trucks were freeing up more parking spots than ever.

But the honeymoon would be short lived for the new owners of The Verge apartment complex located near the Oak Park District. Just last week, gunshots were fired in the apartment complex two consecutive nights in a row. No one was killed or injured in the firing, but the residents are fearful for their safety, as they should be.

The first incident occurred on Monday night. While standing outside my apartment with my roommates, a car zoomed right past us. The driver and passenger jumped out of the car and The Verge’s security chased after them with guns drawn. I asked one of them what was going on and they said to hide inside because of a shooting. Not thinking twice about it we fled inside and peaked through the blinds. We watched for a little while looking to see if police were coming to back up the security. Not seeing any we decided it was best to stay in for the rest of the night.

Later that night, approximately two hours later, I was finally recovering mentally from the shocking events that had taken place earlier. As I recall, it was about sheep number 52, I had counted when four more gunshots rang out. I felt paralyzed for a moment not knowing how to react, or if I should call the police. My mind went numb and soon drifted off to a world of dreams, in a land with no live ammunition.

As if Monday didn’t rock my world enough, Tuesday was even more unreal. I was sitting in my apartment doing homework when… Crack! Crack! Two more gunshots literally shook my entire building. My roommates and myself bolted outside (for some stupid reason) and again security guards seemed to be taking care of the situation. They yelled at us again to go inside, but it was the late afternoon and there were people everywhere. The shooting took place right in front of building 9, supposedly at point blank range. If we had been throwing a party, I’m sure police would have rushed there right away, but again, we watched for a while and didn’t see any flashing lights or sirens.

The Verge has yet to contact the residents about these incidents and maybe it is for the best. After all, it is a gated community.

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Curtis Grima can be reached at [email protected]