Monday, September 22, 2008

I don't know

I witnessed something pretty horrible tonight (Monday). Well, it doesn't get more horrible than suicide and someone that you know, no less. There was a standoff just across the street from where I work. I knew the guy that was holed up in his truck with some guns. The police, emergency, fire fighters, and S.W.A.T. did their best. It all started at 9:30am and ended exactly at 9:30pm. It ended in a flurry of pepper bombs, tear gas, and a bunch of flash bang grenades, then one solitary gun shot. It hasn't been confirmed that he is dead, but from the look of the blood and the gun shot wound to his chest that he inflicted, I mean, he was gone. His face was lifeless. I can't erase that face from my mind now. His condition was listed as Delta, the most critical, and then the ambulance took him to an awaiting helicopter.

It was weird to hear the reporters go from laughing and business to feigning emotion as they reported live from the scene. This was just a bad, bad day. All stemmed from a firing from his part-time fire fighters position and a domestic disturbance incident involving he and his wife this morning. The fire house is across the street from the offices where I work and his house is right there, so his former work buddies were there to witness this as well. I asked one of the fire fighters if they could tell me what the latest was on him, just after he was transported, and he said he couldn't comment. I then said, "I knew him." He then replied, "Yeah, I knew him too." That's all I had to hear to know. Unless some kind of miracle happened, I'm pretty sure it is all over now. Tragic.

12 comments:

Julie Kwiatkowski Schuler said...

How awful. And how awful for you. I'm so sorry.

Diane Mandy said...

What a terrible thing to witness!

Anonymous said...

How sad that happened and that you witnessed it - even more sad that it was someone you know. It won't be something you forget very easily, but hopefully you knew him well enough that there will be good memories to outweigh that last awful memory. Those kinds of experiences tend to put things into perspective, don't they? Hope today's a better day for you. leigh

NYD said...

Treasure life, my friend.

Not everyone does.

Scott said...

That is terrible news. Such sadness when someone makes the choice to take their life. Hope that you are doing okay.

The Grunt said...

Julie~ I couldn't sleep last night. I kept playing the showdown and the EMTs wheeling his corpse out to the ambulance over and over again in my head. He died at the scene. I don't know why they didn't say that in the first place.

Diane~ That's something I wish I had never seen and hope to never witness again. I'd hate to be a cop.

Leigh~ It was sad. I won't forget it. He was a year older than me. He was the older brother of a good school friend of mine. A lot of memories.

NYD~ You got that right.

Scott~ I'm feeling sad and distracted, but alright.

Anonymous said...

Grunto,
*thoughts*
/Vera

Outdoorsy Girl said...

This is the horrible. I am so sorry you witnessed something like that. It is so shocking to know that something like that can go down in a seemingly safe place such as your town. I hope these images won't haunt you too long.

Anonymous said...

:( If I could hug you via the internet, I would. Just pretend, or at least remember the last time I did. I'm sorry for him, for you, for his family. xoxo

Crystal said...

that is terrible, grunt. i am so sorry.

Sun Follower said...

wow. That is horribly sad... and tragic.

The Grunt said...

Vera~ Thanks. The situation was just so screwed up.

O-Girl~ I'm past the images and now wondering what in the hell the police were thinking going all commando on Brian.

Meggypoo~ I like hugs. His family has been really hit hard by this.

Crystal~ Shit happens, but I'm thinking that this shit didn't have to happen in the first place.

Sun~ Yeah, mainly I'm just sick to my stomach now.