It's A Nerve-Wracking Day In The Neighborhood
November 20, 2008
I missed it all, because I left before it happened and got home after it was over, but Joe was in the thick of it!
"What?" I hear you cry.
Oh, only a police manhunt, gunfight, and school lockdown in my neighborhood!
Joe was walking around the lakes with his walking buddy when he noticed a police helicopter hovering just about at treetop level. Immediately after that, they heard about a billion police sirens very close by. By the time Joe got home, more helicopters -- both cop and news -- were chopping away overhead and SWAT team vehicles were everywhere.
The phone rang. It was a recording from the Montgomery County Police, informing Joe that there was a police action occurring in the neighborhood. The helpful officer advised him to stay inside, lock the doors, and be aware that the suspects were armed and extremely dangerous.
While this inspires confidence in the police and the reverse-911 notification system, it does not give a person the warm fuzzy feelings one wants to have when hanging out at home in the suburbs.
Turns out that three criminals robbed a bank in Clarksville, Maryland, then fled. A good citizen saw them leave and called the cops with the crooks' tag number.
Antics, as they say, ensued -- that is, a police chase across through three counties and ending up in MY NEIGHBORHOOD! The robbers bailed out of their pickup truck and started running, with the cops hot behind them.
Shortly after my beloved husband got inside the house, one of the perps decided to start shooting at the police. Not unsurprisingly, the police returned fire. Being better shots than the criminal, the police hit him. And killed him. Right on the path where my sweet life partner had been walking.
The other two got away, so the cops surrounded the neighborhood. They searched every car entering and leaving. The six schools in the area went into lockdown mode, but parents could pick up their kids if they did not live in the surrounded area. The police did manage to corral a "person of interest," then determined that the suspects were no longer in the area.
They called off the search at 4:00.
I got home with no problem. The news folks were still at the head of the street leading into my development, but the helicopters and cops were gone.
Along with, I hope, the bank robbers. Even so, I think I will not answer the door tonight.