Yesterday, an officer involved shooting occurred right outside my house. I’ll explain my perspective and then explain the backstory of what I now know of what/why it happened. I’ve included a sketch of the layout of the scene. Sorry about the length, skip to bottom for TLDR.My experience:It was around 4:30pm. My 26 weeks pregnant wife and I were going to take our 18 month old son and our two dogs on a short walk around the neighborhood since it was such a nice day. So we got dressed, I strapped on my XDS appendix and headed out the door. Our stroller is kept in our SUV’s trunk which was parked in the driveway. We hear some helicopters buzzing overhead but is usual since we live near a regional airport. We had just got my son strapped into the stroller when we saw a car flying down from entrance to our street with 5-6 unmarked cars with lights and siren in tow. We didn’t know what was happening but my wife had the good sense to go ahead and unbuckle my son and pick him up to head inside. That’s when the front car whipped in the driveway directly across from us. The lead pursuer pulled in behind him and the other officers staggered down the street and into neighbors yards. My wife was moving towards our front door when the suspect/officers got out of their cars. I watched saw the first officer get out with guns drawn and knew something might go down. I had the two dogs on leash and knew my best path was towards my backyard. In my mind, my wife had already made it inside however before she made it to the door, she realized she didn’t have the keys to our locked door and immediately turned to run towards the back of our car. About the time both my wife and I start to head in the same direction, shots started to ring out. We met behind the front of our car and hunkered down knowing it was the best cover we could have in that moment. We sat there for what felt like a lifetime as 30 or so shots were fired. After a long enough break and I noticed the new responding officers (of which there were many) holstering their weapons I decided to quickly move my family to the backyard behind our house until we confirmed it was over.Background:Earlier in the day (around noon) the suspect had stabbed his pregnant ex gf who get this was also 26 weeks pregnant. The police had been looking for him since then and found him at a family members house about 1.5 miles from us. Shots were exchanged at that location and the suspect led the police on a chase to our street. My neighbor’s driveway he pulled into was the suspects cousin. I’m not sure what he was thinking was going to happen when he got there but for some reason he came there. I spoke with my neighbor this morning and she said (paraphrasing) “I don’t know why he would bring that here” “There was no way in hell I was letting him in here, cousin or no cousin.” The neighbor did tell me that the cousin and his ex gf had a toxic relationship that must have come to a head. The end result of the shootout was the suspect was hit several times with at least one in the face but was taken into custody and is still alive but badly messed up at the hospital. No officers were hit. The stabbing victim delivered her baby early and as far I know are both stable.Analysis:First off, I feel extremely guilty that I didn’t follow my wife initially and confirm she was safe before taking cover myself. Afterwards she said she felt stupid for heading towards a door that she just locked even if she had the keys because she would have had to fumble to get inside. I am however impressed with her instincts to grab my son and start moving before she even knew the chase was going to stop right outside our house. In hindsight, I should have gone in the same direction of my wife and done what I had to in order get her and our son to safety as quickly as possible. I will not make this mistake again if I ever have to be in any dangerous situation. Secondly, I was grateful in the moment that I had my firearm on me because I had no idea what the situation was and didn’t know if there was any reason that I should need it. Although, I did not feel the need to draw it at any point. My top priority was to keep my entire family completely behind the engine block until it was over.My wife is still pretty shaken up and had some high blood pressure all last night which is not the best thing when you are 26 weeks pregnant. She kept saying “this sucks because I can’t even go to the hospital to get checked out because of Covid-19.” She’s doing better today. I am just happy that no one in my family was hurt.This experience has just reinforced that I need to be aware at all times. I need to move as soon as something seems off. I need to have a plan with my wife about who handles what in this type of situation. Finally, it reminded me that this can happen to literally anybody and anywhere. Our neighborhood is a nice quiet street. Stay safe out there folks and be prepared for everything.TLDR: I was in my driveway about to go on a walk with my pregnant wife, 18 month old son, and two dogs when a stabbing suspect being chased by cops flying down our street pulled into the driveway across the street where a gun fight immediately ensued. My wife and I hid behind our car for the duration. Suspect was shot and taken into custody. Stabbing victim and her baby that she had to deliver early survived. No one else was hurt. via /r/CCW https://ift.tt/39nyd48
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