Taking a Stand: Officers could have easily shot gunman
Saturday was certainly a day of extremes. One minute I’m talking to former Vice President Al Gore, the next I’m lying on my back in an open field in the blazing sun, chiggers nibbling on my carcass and bullets whizzing by.
In you missed Sunday’s edition, detailing, with pictures, the armed standoff on Beersheba Highway, go get a back issue. The incident, which started when a man, believed to be wigged out on drugs, took shots at his wife, soon escalated into a shooting gallery with the guy shooting at lawmen who had surrounded the house.
While there are standoffs about twice a year normally around here, this was one of the few I’ve seen where the person actually opened fire, numerous times, on deputies. Usually the person just needs time to sober up or wants to have his or her peace heard before surrendering. This guy had a gun and plenty of bullets and was quite liberal in dispersing those bullets in the direction of lawmen.
Watching all of this unfold from a field where I took cover when the shooting began, I’ve got to say we should all be proud of the men who wear the badge in Warren County. It’s not only the bravery, but it’s also the restraint they used in not blowing this guy into the next world. Come on, this guy was making his own shooting gallery out there. In most places, a sniper, and there were several with the opportunity Saturday, would have taken a shot. However, lawmen used restraint which in the end, spared the guy his life.
I guess what was most impressive about the drama was watching how they patiently negotiated the gun out of his hands and convinced him to walk onto his front porch, even though he was armed with a machete at the time.
Forced to back off to a safer distance, I watched as an officer walked into the man’s front yard and began talking to him. From our angle on the hill, we were able to see what was going to happen. Unfortunately it was too far away to get good pictures of what transpired at that point.
As the officer was distracting the man, members of the SWAT unit were slowly creeping alongside the house.
“Oh man, he’s about to get it,” said one guy who was huddled behind a vehicle with me. “He’ll never know what hit him.”
Then, as the officer pointed toward the opposite direction, a huge “boom” could be heard, which was the flashbang they fired to stun him. In case you don’t know, a flashbang sounds like a bomb and the concussion wave it puts out serves to disorient the person for a short period of time.
It took only a second for the officers to round the corner and put the man on the ground. As this happened and I was running to get my “money shot,” I recall thinking how smooth the whole thing went down, with no injuries to either side. Of course, the money shot ended up being a guy, without a shirt, being pulled off the porch by officers. Why is it that every guy who holds a standoff is shirtless? Don’t they own any shirts? And it’s only the guys. The women gunpersons are never shirtless when they come out.
I mean, if I was going to hold a standoff, I’d at least drink a glass of Creatine, do a few bench presses, and maybe a few gut crunches, to get a little toned before I got half naked in front of the world. Either that our have the decency to wear a shirt. But, that’s another story.
Long story short, as I saw it first-hand, the members of law enforcement who participated Saturday did an outstanding job and need to be commended on both their bravery and restraint. It’s not every day such a volatile situation is ended without injury or even death. For the guy on the porch, he has another chance thanks to their restraint.
(Duane Sherrill is crime and court reporter for the Standard. He can be reached at 473-2191 or by e-mail at [email protected].)