Unusual evenings

I am privileged now to have another job that is, how shall I say.....interesting.

For instance, last night. Without divulging any clandestine details, I spent the evening talking with the family members of new recruits to about what life for them will be like with the academy on the horizon. The rest of the night I spent trying to find some guys wandering around in the desert.

I also get a chance to meet a variety of people. One of the good ones is the gentleman I met last night.

He was a law enforcement officer that was involved in responding to what has become known as the "Norco Bank Robbery", or the "Norco Bank Robbery Shootout".

The bank robbery culminated in what is known as the longest gun battle/pursuit in law enforcement history, killing one officer, wounding eight others and even resulting in a helicopter being forced down from gunfire

The man I met received scars from five bullet wounds, some medals from The Riverside Sheriff's Dept and the gratitude of a hostage in the bank.

The Chinese are credited with coming up with the curse "May you live in interesting times", but meeting interesting people is no a curse at all.

Here is a brief synopsis of the Norco events:

May 9, 1980. Prolonged shootout and chase between police in Norco, California, and five heavily armed bank robbers wearing military-style fatigues and armed with assault rifles, thousands of rounds of hollow-point bullets as well as various explosive and incendiary devices. Police responded to a bank robbery call in Norco. Upon arriving the police were ambushed and outgunned. After unloading over 300 rounds at police cruisers, the officers were forced to retreat behind their cruisers or nearby obstacles, all the while being fired upon. The suspects attempted to escape in their own vehicle. During this attempt, the driver of the suspects was killed by a stray police shot. The suspects then hijacked a nearby vehicle and became involved in a prolonged chase, in which the suspects shot at police and disabled and destroyed 33 police vehicles (as well as civilian cars) with explosives thrown from the back of a truck. The suspects also disabled a police helicopter by shooting at it. Later, the suspects lay in wait for police as they chased them, and ambushed them, resulting in the death of a police officer and wounding 2 others. Heavily outgunned, the police were pinned down until one officer arrived with an AR-15. After the police engaged the suspects with the AR-15, the suspects fled. One of the suspects was killed in the shootout, one during a later standoff with the police the next day, and three were later captured. 8 officers were also wounded during the events.

Here is a page where you can find out more:
The Norco Bank Robbery