Dec 2023. Blues Vol 39 No. 12

front door, a man in his fifties
opened the door and began
telling us about the neighbors
across the street and how they
had been outside earlier and
were firing guns into the air
and raising all kinds of hell.
It was at that moment that
a single gunshot rang out and
Randy fell forward onto the
man’s porch. I grabbed him by
his vest and drug him behind
a car that was parked in the
driveway less than twenty feet
away. I yelled at the man to go
back inside and go to the back
of the house.
“Unit 10E50 shots fired, officer
down, officer down, I need
backup and EMS NOW…. NO
send me Care Flight he’s not
breathing.”
“All units, assist the officer,
officer down, I repeat officer
down at 103 East Third, all units
Code 3 Officer Down.”
“Unit 10E50 Care Flight has
been dispatched”
In the seconds, maybe minutes
following that first shot,
the suspect fired several more
rounds towards us hitting the car
we were behind, as well as the
sides of the complainant’s house.
It was surreal in that you could
hear the rounds hitting near us
and seconds later you heard the
rifle shot. I fired several shots
towards the suspect, but he was
over 50 yards away and it was
pointless to keep firing. I focused
my attention on trying to stop
Randy’s bleeding and trying CPR.
But the rounds kept ricocheting
off the concrete and unless
I moved into a better position, I
was going to take a round myself.
I heard the sirens in the distance
and knew help would be
here soon. But we had to survive
NOW.
I fired two more rounds towards
the house and dragged
Randy farther up the driveway
to another vehicle parked beside
the house. Seconds later, units
started arriving and the suspect
fired several rounds at their cars.
Then he ran in the house and that
was the last I saw of him and the
end of the shooting. He barricaded
himself in the house and after
a 4-hour standoff with SWAT,
shot himself in the head with a
9mm.
Care Flight arrived and they
worked on Randy all the way to
hospital, but I knew he was gone.
I had rode in the helicopter with
The Blues 40th Anniversary Issue 149 149