The threat was not whispered in a driveway or muttered under someone’s breath. According to the Reddit post, the neighbor looked toward the family’s security camera and yelled that he would get a gun and put a bullet in one of them.
That detail made the whole thing harder to brush off. People say a lot of things during neighbor fights, and not all of it is meant literally. But when someone talks about getting a gun and shooting a specific person, while standing close enough to be recorded, it becomes much harder to treat it like ordinary yelling.
The original Reddit post can be found here: https://www.reddit.com/r/legaladvice/comments/13407×2/neighbor_yelled_ill_get_a_gun_put_a_bullet_in_you/
The family wanted to know what they could do, especially because the threat had been captured on camera. That mattered. In a lot of neighbor disputes, everything turns into one person’s word against another’s. Here, the family at least had video showing what was said and how it was said.
Even with that, the situation was frightening. A camera can prove a threat happened, but it does not stop someone from coming back. The family still had to live near the person who allegedly said it. They still had to step outside, park in the driveway, check the mail, take out trash, and deal with the possibility that another encounter could happen.
The threat also raised the question of escalation. If a neighbor is already angry enough to threaten gun violence on camera, what happens the next time there is noise, a parking issue, a property line dispute, or even a passing look? The family was not dealing with normal awkwardness anymore. They were dealing with a neighbor who had allegedly moved the conflict into deadly language.
That is where the security footage became both helpful and unsettling. It gave the family proof. But it also gave them something they could replay, something that confirmed exactly what they feared. This was not a vague memory of a heated moment. It was a recorded threat involving a gun.
The post suggested the family was looking for a practical route: police report, restraining order, harassment complaint, or some way to make the threat official. They did not want to wait until the neighbor actually showed up armed. They wanted to know whether the words were enough to trigger protection before the situation got worse.
In neighbor disputes, that is often the hardest line. Police may not always act heavily on words alone, especially if no weapon is visible at the time. But the people being threatened do not get the luxury of treating it like nothing. They are the ones who have to wonder whether the neighbor might follow through.
Commenters told the family to save the video in more than one place immediately. Several people said the footage should be backed up to the cloud, saved on a separate drive, and kept unedited. If police, a court, or an attorney needed it later, the original recording could matter.
Many urged them to file a police report. Even if officers did not arrest the neighbor right away, commenters said the family needed an official record that the threat had been made. If the neighbor came back or made another threat, the earlier report would help show a pattern.
Others suggested asking about a protective order or restraining order. The threat was specific enough, in some commenters’ view, that it was at least worth exploring. The family would need to check local rules, but having video evidence could make that conversation stronger.
Some commenters also warned against responding directly to the neighbor. A person who is already threatening to get a gun should not be challenged in the yard or at the fence line. The advice was to avoid contact, keep cameras running, and let reports and documentation carry the weight.
A few people brought up calling a supervisor if the first police response was dismissive. Commenters said a threat to shoot someone should not be treated like a simple neighbor nuisance, especially when the family could provide video.
The post ended with the family holding the one thing many people in these disputes wish they had: proof. But proof did not make them feel safe by itself. It only confirmed that the neighbor had said the words out loud, on camera, and close enough to home that ignoring it no longer felt like an option.
Like The Avid Outdoorsman’s content? Be sure to follow us.
Here’s more from us:
