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Using hand gestures, we communicated what our next move was, then we burst into action.
I heard a man shout in warning, then ducked when a second man fired a weapon in our direction. Heart pumping, I kept low as I ran to another hall and turned to get cover behind the wall.
I turned to put eyes on Doobie, and saw him across the hall in a position similar to my own. It looked like there had just been the two men, but they were coming out of the back vault area, and I had to assume at a minimum, there was a bank employee in there as well.
“Police!” Doobie shouted. “Drop your weapons and come out with your hands in the air.”
“Fuck you,” was the response, and I thought my heart might burst, it was beating so fast.
Communicating that we should wait for backup, since the situation was escalating, Doobie and I were standing down, waiting in our places until Smitty and the other officers arrived.
The choice was taken out of our hands, however, when the sound of footsteps running toward us made me fear for our safety. Gun at the ready, I peered around the corner to see a large man with a gun in his hand, running toward me. I called for him to stop, thinking the sight of my weapon would cause him to listen, but he kept right on charging.
“What the hell?” I shouted. “Stop, or I’ll shoot.”
When the man didn’t listen, I lowered my gun and let off a shot, hitting him in the thigh and causing him to drop to the ground. I heard the popping sound of his gun discharging, and ducked back behind the wall. That was when I noticed that Doobie had come out from cover as well and was laying on the ground, holding his hand to his chest, as blood seeped through his fingers.
“Shit, Ty, you’re hit,” I called, running to my partner and pressing my hand to his wound.
“The other guy,” he bit out, and I knew I had to leave him to neutralize the situation.
I called in, “Officer Down,” over my radio, then proceeded with caution over to where the armed man was writhing on the floor. He’d let go of his gun, so I kicked it out of reach, then secured him with handcuffs, while I ignored his cursing and kept my eyes on the opening to the vault.
Once he was secure, I lifted my weapon and proceeded toward the vault.
I heard the soft sounds of a woman crying as I rounded the corner, and saw her huddled into the corner.
“Ma’am, are you alone?” I asked, keeping my voice low but firm.
Her wide, smudged eyes came to me and she pointed down another hall.
“He went that way.”
Satisfied that she was unharmed, I followed her direction toward the other hallway. I reached the door and pushed it open, just as the sound of squealing tires hit my ears, and the back of a beat-up old Oldsmobile drove off down the alley.
I called in the make and model of the car and asked Marsha the ETA of an ambulance, then went back inside to assess the situation.
I found the bank employees and customers in a locked conference room, and was happy to see that everyone was uninjured, despite being shaken up by the experience. I asked the manager from the vault to join the others, then stay put so we could get their statements, then went to check on Doobie.
I sat with Doobie, holding his hand and talking to him to keep him awake while we waited for everyone to arrive.
“There’s an injured perp around the corner as well,” I told the paramedics when they entered and stopped at my partner and me. One of the men went to survey the damage of the robber, while the other looked over Doobie.
They were both put on gurneys and rolled into ambulances.
“I’ll be there as soon as I can,” I promised Doobie, knowing I had to stay around to help my fellow officers.
As the ambulances were pulling off, a squad car came pulling in, sirens blazing.
“Someone called in a tip and Trumbo and Lott picked up your runner. They’ve got him down in lockup for interview,” Smitty said as he joined me and we walked back inside the building.
I had to stay and wait for the Incident Manager to arrive, so Smitty and I began taking statements from all of the witnesses.
“Since you discharged your weapon, you’ll have to be interviewed by the IM, and surrender your weapon for testing. It’s procedure,” Smitty explained when the Incident Manager arrived.
I went over the timeline of events as I knew then, and answered all of the IM’s questions.
In addition to losing my gun, I was placed on a couple days of mandatory leave, while the investigation was being done.
