Gunfire in Quito

A girl screams, there is a commotion and it sounds like pounding on the doors or windows of the ground floor of our hostal. Then a gunshot. Was that really a gunshot. It couldn't be, could it? I am ripped out of sleep and run to our window, tripping and falling as I get there. Its about midnight and John is still fast asleep, earplugs providing a blanket of silence. I look out the window and something is terribly wrong. The owner of our hostal is outside yelling, the neighbors are in their windows, then the owner's wife comes out also screaming about a robber and police ... It is obvious my spanish is completely inadequate as I can't make out anything she is saying. But I can see the fear in her face. A police car goes by and they run after it but is doesn't stop. There is more screaming. I go to our door debating if I should go downstairs. I open the door and immediately close it and lock it again. John - I push him, wake up, something is happening. He mumbles but is unmoved. The confusion goes on for a while before the police arrive and then an ambulance. I see a westerner walk to the ambulance, his arm bandaged - was he shot? In the morning we hear that he and his girlfriend had just arrived from the airport. Apparently a car followed the cab and when they got out to pay the cab, the robbers attacked trying to get their bags. The guy fought back, and the commotion started. Some thought the cab driver was involved - a setup so to speak. The Australian-Kiwi couple we met were looking out from their balcony and saw the guy covering his girlfriend with his body and still holding onto his bag. But then there was a gun and it was pointed up to balcony. One shot went off. Luckily no one was shot. As the story continues to unfold the next day we also find out that another guest is a doctor and he was there to assist the westerner who sounds like he was cut with a broken bottle while attempted to keep his bag. Later we hear that the couple stayed at the hospital that night but then went on with their trip to the Galapagos. In the morning all I am thinking is that it is time to get the hell out of Quito. But as the sun comes up we recall that shootings happen in LA too.  In fact there was a shoting in the park near our house a short time before we left town.. It can happen, and does happen, in any big city. But my fear of crime in Quito has been steadily growing and this is the icing on the cake.  First its the fact that everyone is always warning you of the crime, there are postings in the hotels, and storekeepers give warnings.  Then its that the fact that just about everyone we met has been a victim of crime - the mustard spraying trick where then some businessman or kind women offers to help you clean up as your bags are snatched, sometimes a knife is involved, other times its just a snatch and grab.  Theft on the buses, your things disappear out of your bag practically in front of your eyes.  And the list goes on.  Yes, this random gunshot was too close for comfort and even though I must admit I still like the city in the daytime; we won't be out after dark anymore. .