weissblog

Last Friday was graduation night at the local high school and there were several parties going on around town. The National Guard Armory had been rented out for a party as well. A friend of mine called to let me know about it and asked be to roll through every so often to keep an eye on things. As soon as he said there was a party I knew there would be trouble. I don’t know why, but I just had that feeling.

Well, I managed to get out there once before the end of my shift. Then, while my shift captain was debriefing another officer and I, I told them that I was going to ride back out to the armory because I had a bad feeling about the place. Not three minutes after my captain dismissed us, a call came out. Fight in progress at the armory. The next shift was already on the street, but I went ahead and rolled out as well.

The first officer on the scene had already broken up the fight by the time the rest of us arrived. It was a little after midnight and I didn’t feel like going home yet. So, when the rest of the officers left, I pulled my patrol car into a parking spot where I could what most of the parking lot and still see the door to the building. I patrolled the parking lot every so often and just tried to keep an eye on things.

Around 1:30 am I was getting tired and decided to patrol the lot one more time before going home. The guy working security at the party came out and was walking with me. As we neared the end of the lot we heard some screams an saw several people running out the door onto the parking lot. We paused and looked at each other, then yelled fight and took off toward the building.

By the time we got inside everything was calmed down and most of the people had already gone outside. So, we walked back outside and the security guy gave a speech about deciding to come in a party peacefully or leaving. I went back to my car and continued to watch the place. After about 15 minutes or so I spotted a fight in front of the building just off to the side of the doors. I ran to the crowd and started tossing people off the pile, working my way down to the two that were fighting.

When I get the fight broken up I realize that another had formed not three feet behind me. I turned and started tossing the people off that pile. While I was working my way into the pile I failed to watch where I was stepping and my right foot missed the edge of the side walk and slipped down to the asphalt. Just a couple inch drop, but it was enough to cause me to lose my balance. As I fell I threw the guy I had in my hands and then landed on my elbow.

As I scrambled to get back upright I heard gun shots going off. 5 I believe. When I heard the first shot my blood ran cold. I was on the ground next to about 15 fighting people and someone somewhere close was firing a gun. I felt helpless for just a split moment, then I got mad as hell. I got to my feet as fast as I could, grabbing my radio on my way up and started calling for some backup. By the time backup arrived, I had already cleared out about a third of the lot and was telling the rest of the people to leave.

It was an interesting experience to say the least. It took me nearly three hours to come down off the adrenalin high. I can’t say it was life changing or anything, but it definitely made me think about a few things. It made me realize that it only takes a split second to make a fatal mistake. It also made me realize that my kids are a major part of my motivation to come home each night.