Last Saturday another Officer and I were dispatched to back up the Deputies in the next town for an armed robbery in progress. We have had several banks hit in the local area recently. While enroute we were told that the suspect had fled on foot. We were told that a weapon had been "shown".

The other Officer was closer than I and arrived first, Deputy next and I arrived within seconds after that. Usual setup and procedures followed, which I won't go into here (we know what they are, others don't need too).  I set up on a rear corner, pistol in hand and got to the trunk for the AR. The corner that I set up on was where the suspect had fled the building.

After everything settled down I was cleared to search the local area, finding nothing I returned to my patrol area. After word gets out about the incident, I get a call from my wife to call my mother. It seems my elderly parents were in the shop next to the bank 2-3 minutes before we were dispatched. So they were next door while this went down and never knew it.

My partner and I learned later that the suspect had fired the weapon inside, but we were never told while enroute. I don't know if the bank employees didn't say or if the dispatcher dropped the ball and never told us.

Just goes to show you what a difference in seconds or minutes can make. Be Safe out there. And yes I have a special interest in helping to catch this asshole.