Under Fire Submission : Excerpted from the upcoming book

Sorcerers Apprentice: The Training and Adventures of an

Operational emote !ie"er #$ %ohn &erlosk$
' "as "orking a solo s(uad on the night shift in )*+,- '
had onl$ t"o $ears on the .ob at the time- Since ' "asn/t
assigned to a particular car0 ' did "hat "e call
"arhorsing0 bouncing from assignment to assignment- 't
allo"ed me to get more involved "ith our district- 't also
seemed more exciting0 "ith a ne" part of the district to
explore ever$ night-
That night ' "ould get all the excitement ' ever "anted0
or "ould "ant- 1ike the sa$ing goes2 #e careful "hat $ou
"ish for---2
' "as taking a tour of one of the man$ strip malls in
our district- This one "as ad.acent to a polo field that
"as o"ned b$ the e(uestrian center-
As ' drove through the parking lot0 ' noticed a "oman in
one of the shops "ith her hands raised in the air- ' had
slo"ed the s(uad to see "hat "as going on "hen t"o men in
green hooded arm$ .ackets burst from the door"a$ to the
shop- One pointed to m$ marked s(uad car and the$ both fled
in the direction of the polo field-
' grabbed the microphone for m$ radio and $elled0 2S(uad
33 has a robber$ in progress at the strip mall in the 33,,
block of 4ood &ope oad52
As the dispatcher ackno"ledged and called for
assistance0 ' .ammed on the throttle to follo" the robbers-
Once the$ got to the field ' "ould have to follo" on foot-
There "as a four6foot earthen berm that separated the mall
from the field- 't "as far too steep for m$ s(uad to
negotiate-
The t"o figures crested the berm .ust as m$ s(uad
s(uealed to a halt in front- As ' leaped from the car0 '
pulled m$ handie6talkie from its case and shouted into the
mike0 2'/m in foot pursuit through the polo field next to
the mall- T"o male suspects in arm$ field .ackets- The$/re
headed for the pro.ects at the south end of the field-2 '
kne" if the$ got there0 '/d never find them in the ma7e of
buildings-
&ad it not been for t"o fortunate occurrences0 the$
"ould have made it too- A foot pursuit carr$ing t"ent$
pounds of e(uipment and bod$ armor "ould be a short one-
Unless $ou got the perpetrators in the first fift$ $ards0
the$ "ould be gone like last $ears lovers- These t"o "ere
in .eans and go6fast shoes8 sneakers-
#ut ' had the advantage of driving that first fift$
$ards- Second0 being not too long out of the Academ$ and
running regularl$0 ' "as still in good shape- There "as no
veteran/s donut filled tire around m$ middle-
That advantage translated to me rapidl$ closing the gap
bet"een us- One of them took a (uick glance behind and got
a shock seeing me right behind and gaining fast- &e $elled
something to his partner and the$ split up0 running on
diverging courses to"ard the pro.ects- One of them thre"
do"n "hat appeared to be the victim/s purse-
9ell0 as :lint East"ood did in the movie Magnum Force in
a similar situation0 ' thought0 go for the mone$0 and
continued closing on the suspect that had thro"n do"n the
purse-
' dre" m$ service revolver and0 catching up0 screamed
2Free7e0 police52
;ine times out of ten that .ust makes them run faster0
but that first fift$ $ards had burned this gu$ out- &e
stopped abruptl$ and "hirled around- As he did so he thrust
his hand into his .acket pocket-
<$ heart fro7e- ' thought0 Oh m$ 4od0 '/m going to have
to shoot him- Time seemed to slo" do"n as ' "atched him
start to pull something silver out of his pocket- The pulse
roared in m$ ears as ' screamed again to free7e or die-
At that time0 ' "as a member of the intramural police
shooting team and regularl$ shot on the range- At the range
of t"ent$6one feet0 ' could put all six rounds in the space
of a fist on target in the blink of an e$e- This suspect
"as a lot closer-
' placed the illuminated sights of m$ Smith and 9esson
<odel )* :ombat <agnum over his chest and pulled the hammer
back- The cock of the hammer in the cold air sounded like
the crack of thunder in m$ ears-
'n the space of a heartbeat ' sa" him continue to $ank
something silver out of his pocket- 'f ' "ere going to beat
him to the dra"= it "ould have to be no"-
The ->+ caliber0 )?+ grain lead semi6"adcutters
traveling +?, feet a second0 "ould cross the intervening
feet in a fraction of a second0 and tear through the
sternum and muscle of the suspect/s chest "all- A fraction
of a second later0 slightl$ flattened and tumbling from
striking bone0 the$ "ould penetrate the pericardium0 the
sack containing the heart- The slugs "ould rip through the
organ and lodge under the shoulder blade and spine- 9ith a
shocked expression on his face0 he "ould slump to the
ground "ith onl$ seconds of life remaining before the loss
of blood pressure and the lack of ox$gen to his brain "ould
kill him-
At least that/s the "a$ it "ould have happened had '
pulled the trigger- To this da$0 ' don/t kno" "h$0 but '
didn/t-
' "atched him pull the silver ob.ect out and toss it to
the ground- ' looked uncomprehendingl$ at first0 and then
rage rose in m$ throat-
't "as a can of beer- A lous$ can of cheap beer- And for
the first time ' took a close look at the face staring "ide
e$ed at me from under the hood- The face of a teenager- &e
couldn/t have been more than thirteen $ears old-
' stepped up0 raising the gun over m$ head to strike
him0 screaming0 2@ou fool5 @ou almost got shot5 9h$ didn/t
$ou free7e like ' told $ouA2 ' "as so angr$= ' "anted to
smash that $oung0 foolish0 ignorant face-
&e (uivered in fear and in a small bo$/s voice managed0
2' didn/t "ant to get caught "ith beer on me- <$ mom "ould
kill me-2
' brought the gun back do"n0 barel$ in control0 2@ou
almost did die0 $ou stupid ass52 ' stood there0 shaking in
anger and fear- ' seemed to to"er over him even though he
"as actuall$ onl$ a fe" inches shorter than ' "as- '
couldn/t sa$ an$thing more- #reathing heavil$0 as much from
the near disaster as from the pursuit0 ' handcuffed the
kid- <$ hands "ere shaking so badl$ that it took me several
moments to get the cuffs on-
As ' "as struggling "ith that0 ' noticed headlights
approaching from the entrance to the field- <$ backups had
arrived-
#ack at the station0 ' talked "ith the detective "ho
intervie"ed the teenager- 9e both shook our heads- 2:ould
$ou see the headlines in the paper tomorro" had ' shot
himA2 ' remarked to the detective-
2Oh $eah- Onl$ too "ell- :op shoots0 no executes unarmed
teenager in deserted polo field- 't "ould have caused a
riot- @ou "ould have been .ustified0 but it "ouldn/t have
mattered- 't "ould have been .ust another case of police
brutalit$ to that communit$- The press "ouldve had a field
da$ and ever$one "ouldve "anted $our blood-
2't/s a funn$ thing though- &e/s not a bad kid- &e/s
.ust hanging around the "rong cro"d- The victim said he
"asnt the one "ho robbed her- The other suspect did it and
according to her0 he .ams the purse in our friend heres
hand and $ells run- So like a $oung dumb teenager0 thats
"hat he does- &e doesn/t have a .uvie record and has got
good grades in school according to his mom0 "ho is on the
"a$ to pick him up- And from the sound of it0 she/s not too
pleased02 the detective finished0 rubbing his chin in
reflection- &e looked at me and after glancing (uickl$
around us0 turned back to me and asked in a lo" voice0 B'm
curious- 9h$ didnt $ou shoot himA ;inet$6nine percent of
the department "ould have fired in that instance and the$
"ould have been .ustified too- #ut $ou didnt- 9h$AC
' took a moment to put m$ thoughts together0 B' almost
did- 9hen he "hipped around and .ammed his hand into his
pocket ' thought he "as going for a gun- ' "as
concentrating on his hands "hen he turned around so '
didnt reali7e ho" $oung he "as- ' had cocked the hammer
back so m$ service revolver "as on single action- %ust
three pounds of pressure on the trigger and it "ould have
fired- 9hen ' sa" the flash of silver coming out ' thought
for sure this "as it-C %ust thinking about the incident
brought back the adrenaline rush and a (uiver in m$ voice-
B' "as "earing bod$ armor but ' "asnt about to let him
have the first shot- ' had no desire to pla$ ussian
roulette "ith the possibilit$ of a shot striking someplace
"here the armor didnt cover0C ' stated flatl$-
BOk0 so "h$ didnt $ou shootAC the detective reiterated-
B' dont kno"-C ' shrugged m$ shoulders "hen ' sa" the
look on the detectives face- ' didnt kno" "h$- ' should
have fired- #ut ' didnt-
The detective looked at me for a moment and then
observed0 BThe onl$ one luckier than $ou tonight is that
$oung son6of6a6bitch5 ' "onder if he has an$ idea ho" close
he came to stinking up the inside of a coffinAC
' "ould see that same teenager six months later0 riding
his bike "ith some friends in an alle$- &e "as laughing and
.oking "ith his buddies= $oung and "ithout a care in the
"orld- 't had been so close- ' don/t think to this da$ that
he had an$ real idea of ho" close he came to d$ing on that
dark cold night0 on a deserted polo field-