Blimey I could've sworn I started up a thread/posts that appear to have disappeared &%+((£ Anyway not to worry at least it kept me amused for a while.
Having had a quick look at other mass shootings in residential properties: 65 Every St (Bains) and 112 Ocean Ave (DeFeos) it seems there might be some evidence that the sound of gunshot is reduced:
- On the assumption David Bain is innocent, as per his last trial, his father shot to death 4 victims whilst they were in their beds/rooms. The bedrooms were spread over 2 floors. 2 victims sustained 1 gsw, 1 victim 2 gsw's and another victim 3 gsw's. The youngest victim was 14 yoa. .22 used with silencer.
- In the DeFeo case, Ronald DeFeo Jnr., shot to death 6 victims whilst they were in their beds. The bedrooms were spread over 3 floors. The parents sustained 2 gsw's each and each sibling 1 gsw each. The youngest victim was 9 yoa. The neighbours said they didn't hear any noise other than dogs barking. .35 used no silencer.
- In the case of Oscar Pistorius the evidence re the sound of gunshot sounds ambigious where you might think the sounds of gunshot ringing out would be clear cut:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/oscar-pistorius/10943659/Oscar-Pistorius-10-reasons-why-he-is-guilty-or-innocent.html
9mm pistol, no silencer.
I think where firearms are discharged in enclosed spaces it might alter (reduce) the sound based on the ambient temp being higher, bullet stopping shortly after discharge and the following:
es/Lectures/FUTA-ARC-507/Assignments/2007 Assignments/Term Papers/Behaviour of Sound in an Enclosed Space.pdf
If you are asking if the sound of the shot within that confined space is less than it would be in a more open space the answer is no. I have heard a round fired in normal room and if anything it seems louder.
What is does so is inhibits the loudness that can be heard from farther away. If a house and position is 1000 yards apart and someone stands directly in the middle on the 500 yard line they are going to hear the shot fired outdoors much better than the shot fired in the house. If oy uar ein another structure that is going to reduce the sound even more and make it all that much more difficult to recognize what the sound actually is. This is before even taking into account background noises.
With respect to sleep, some people wake up from loud noises like thunder others don't. Some wake up a little but fall back asleep without realizing what is going on others will fully wake up. You can wake up and yet fail to figure out what woke you up if the sound doesn't persist. So people woken by gunshots only appreciate it if the shots continue after they wake up.
When I was younger a gunpowder plant located 4 miles from my house blew up early in the morning or more accurately 4 buildings blew up. They didn't blow up simultaneously it was a chain reaction thus many people woke up and managed to hear 3, 2 or 1 blow up. It registered on the Richter scale and the houses shook so violently that some the chimneys broke or foundations were damaged and some windows blew out. Amazingly a large number of people never woke up at all. I'm a light sleeper and one of the few who woke up immediately and actually recall hearing the first blast even. I still can't believe how many people I know who didn't wake up at all and had no idea anything happened. The saying a bomb can't wake some is literally accurate.
You mentioned the Amityville Murder. Evidence indicated that both parents woke up and began to rise when they were shot. There is no way to know if they fully appreciated what was going on or not the shots were fired in rapid succession but there was enough time for them to at least begin to wake up and begin to react. The problem though is that people react too slowly to take advantage. A 22 is much less powerful than a 35 caliber and that plus the location of their wounds were much more severe thus they couldn't make it out of bed. Jeremy's shots were less well placed and he used a less powerful gun so Nevill was still mobile. June of course was able to get on her feet but out of it and too severely injured to survive for long.
The last victim in the Amityville case did actually wake up and get out of bed. But she didn't recognize what the noise was. She looked down the stairs saw her brother and he told her to go back to bed which she did and then after a period of time he went and shot her in bed as well.
People only partly awake also tend to be lazy and not want to get out of bed to investigate things so that plays in as well. There are plenty of cases where people were shot in rooms next to them and yet int he morning the people say they heard nothing. It sounds crazy but happens. It was thus just luck that the killer didn't go try to kill them too or rather the fact they didn't get up and thus were not a witness who needed to be eliminated actually saved their lives.
