Sometimes when my shoulder hurts I’m reminded of a call I ran as a night shift police officer, more accurately it would be a series of domestic disturbance calls to the same location over an extended period. These were back in the mid to late 80’s so you’ll forgive me if I’m a little thin on particulars, not having any of my patrol notes to refresh my memory.
I was on my way home from the chiropractor’s office the other day, talking with my mom on my cell phone while driving. I must have felt a twinge in my shoulder, enough to bring up the memory as I continued my conversation. I recalled being dispatched to a corner house with a short chain link fence, a couple of barking German Shepherds in the yard keeping us from getting closer to the house for a short while until we mustered up enough courage to walk past them. The house was familiar to most of the night shift officers, it having been the scene of many family disturbances. Anytime a call went out at that place, at least two units would go to make sure that backup was already present. This was the kind of family that jokes are made of, “Proof that cousins can repopulate with almost no ill effect”.
When we got close enough to hear the screams of a young woman alerting us that her mother was holding a gun on her we carefully, but quickly entered the house. The mother had the grown daughter by the hair, a pistol in the other hand. I was close enough to act as I brought my flashlight down on the area of her arm where the Radial nerve would cause her to release her grip on the pistol.
In the back of my mind there was a reluctance to hit a “lady”; I know, this was no lady. I held back from hitting hard and attempted to minimize the damage to her arm, also in direct conflict to what I knew should be done. Regardless of the struggle going on in my mind, I was able to dislodge the pistol, gain control of the woman and make the arrest without serious injury to either the mother or the daughter.
The same was not entirely true for myself as I noticed that by holding back from a full Radial nerve strike I’d pulled my own muscles out of line. My back felt the stress, my shoulder ached and my neck hurt; all from a chivalrous attempt to minimize injuries to fair maidens. This was the kind of non injury/injury that never got reported or written up and so there was never any documentation; it never happened.
I heard from some evening shift officers several weeks later that the woman had been transported to the local emergency room complaining of a severe head ache; turns out her husband had shot her in the back of the head. She didn’t remember it and didn’t press charges against him.
While I sat here writing my vague recollections of a very particular location I brought up Yahoo maps and narrowed the search to within a block or two; it was either Rannie or Rayson near where Roma crosses in Northwest Houston.
This is only a few blocks from Hollister and Pitner where a huge apartment complex is located. One New Years Eve we had a rookie supervisor call us to meet at a school parking lot just down the street. He wanted us to make our “presence known” as there had been a steady stream of fireworks complaints being phoned in. I explained to him that it was more likely to be fire arms being discharged into the air rather than fireworks; shotguns, pistols and an occasional large bore rifle.
“Well, we still need to drive through a couple of times, just be careful.” About that time some fool in the middle of the apartment project let loose with a fully automatic Mac 10, changed out magazines and sprayed the air once more. “Maybe we can do that some other time, y’all get back on patrol and avoid those apartments; be careful out there.”
On New Years Eve or the Fourth of July I made it a point to volunteer for almost any kind of call which would require a lengthy report. I would take my time filling in the blanks and remain under the protection of a solid roof while listening to the bullets falling through a neighboring tree’s broad canopy of leaves. What goes up must come down is a natural law; fools shooting guns into the night sky after having a few too many beers is another.
I answered a call in a different apartment complex down at the other end of my beat regarding someone discharging a pistol. I drove slowly, listening to the report in the distance as I triangulated the location. I knew I was getting closer, my window down as I drove through one parking area and then another.
This might sound a bit strange; but I experienced a spiritual moment while on that particular call. The Spirit whispered to my mind that I needed to be ready, more so than I already was. I was instructed to take my pistol out of the holster, stop forward movement by applying the brake fully, rest the pistol on the padded armrest and pay attention. This was not what I normally would have done, not having a specific target in sight, much less in a vacant parking lot for all I could see at the moment. This might sound funny too; it was like sitting in an easy chair watching a show or something rather than being in a hostile environment; a peaceful feeling came over me telling me that I had perfect control over the situation even though I still had no idea where the gun shots were coming from.
No sooner had I placed my pistol at the ready, just below the window opening where it would not be visible to the public, at least not unless I raised it a few inches; the suspect came around the corner of the building. I was only a few feet from him when he appeared, holding his pistol half way out from his body in a threatening manner. In a fraction of a second my pistol was centered on his chest as I calmly caught his attention.
“ I wouldn’t if I were you.”, was all I need to say and he stopped dead in his tracks, placed the pistol on the ground and gave up. It was the easiest arrest I’d ever made; no hint of a struggle as the suspect knew he didn’t have a chance. Had I not been ready and had the “drop on him”, who knows how it might have turned out.
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