01x06 - Interstate Boat Chase

[bunniefuu]

They are carrying one of the

deputies to Air 1 right now.

One of the deputies had been shot

twice in the stomach.

This guy's armed and dangerous.

It was a frantic situation.

He's in his truck,

he has a high powered r*fle.

WHEN CAMERAS CAPTURE

A POLICE PURSUIT

Shots fired.

He's sh**ting out of his window.

II'm gonna exchange g*nf*re.

Deadly force is worth the risk

in this situation.

EVERY TURN CAN MEAN

LIFE OR DEATH

It looks like he's intentionally

trying to hit people there.

If we get a chance, I'm not gonna

let him hurt somebody out there.

Before that night,

I had never had to use my firearm.

We have Chopper Four

where Mason Dunn has been tracking

the movement going on around there.

- Mason, what do you see right now?

- This is Southwest 78 and Penn.

Two deputies have been shot

multiple times.

A SUSPECT HAS FIRED AT DEPUTIES

SERVING EVICTION NOTICE

Air One is landing in the street,

you never see this.

That's about all we know right now.

15 MINUTES EARLIER

Any information on the subject?

Is he still there, inside or out?

He's in his truck,

he has a high powered r*fle.

Sarge and John have both been shot.

I'll never forget that day.

Serving eviction papers,

it's just one of our requirements.

Well, evictions are customarily done,

just one person.

This day they chose,

"Hey, let's go as a group."

We do all kinds of court orders.

Summonses, subpoenas,

giving protection orders,

evictions, warrants.

If it's signed by a judge, it's our

responsibility to get that served.

Unfortunately,

we deal with a lot of people

on the worst day of their lives.

And we see some of

the worst sides of society.

It just It's inherent in the job.

SGT. PRICE IS OVERSEEING

A TRAINING COURSE

WHEN THE CALL COMES IN

And the deputy said,

"Are you listening to the radio?

Bobby, Mark and Melody, it's bad.

It's real. it's bad."

And then on the radio

you hear Deputy Melody Norton.

It's almost like her feeling just

went right through the radio waves.

I'm going into the backyard.

He left, he left in his truck.

Westbound on 70 whatever street we're on.

Westbound on 78th street in a truck.

I immediately grabbed my radio,

and I run and jump in my truck.

I could see the two officers

laying in the backyard.

They are carrying one of the

deputies to Air One right now.

They're gonna fly them to the hospital.

One of the deputies has been shot

twice in the stomach.

I could tell that they,

it was a frantic situation.

They were shot by somebody who has

left the scene in a Dodge truck.

This guy's armed and dangerous.

I knew it was critical.

THE SUSPECT VEHICLE HAS BEEN

SEEN HEADING TOWARDS I-25

What's he driving?

A green Dodge Dakota, an older model

with a boat, towing it on a trailer.

I've probably made it to I-35

within a minute.

I thought I would try and block his path.

What's your 20 now behind the suspect?

Coming up on I 35.

- On 89th?

- Yeah, 10-4.

The suspect has a bag

of g*ns and ammunition,

in the back of the boat.

It kinda puzzles you for a minute.

What is the boat's purpose?

Is it just purely accidental,

or are we worried about this in any way?

Witnesses say that he had a g*n

in the car with him. So he's armed.

Pursuits happen in our county

all of the time.

But when you find out that

you have deputies that have been shot,

the severity goes up.

We're really dealing

with a dangerous individual.

This guy's prepared for a gunfight

wherever he goes.

All right, we're southbound on

Polaris from 89, doing about 15.

He stops, I don't know why he stopped.

If it turns into a vehicle barricade,

we do have a BearCat on the way.

Going around here.

What's going through your mind is,

you know, possible scenarios

that can happen.

Is he gonna go on foot and try to run

through the neighborhood?

Is he gonna try to scare us away

by sh**ting at every car he sees?

There were about six patrol cars

in front of me.

He'd already shot two deputies.

And when it's a situation like that,

we don't take any chances.

I start to pull out my r*fle,

open the door,

got one foot on the cement

and he started taking off again.

They're westbound in a business park,

I don't know what the name of it is.

It's a big gray and tan building.

He has the means, and has shown

the ability to be violent.

Stop the truck now! Stop now!

We needed to stop this

before he got on the Interstate.

There the chances of a civilian

getting injured increase.

I'm three back,

and I think I can TVI that boat,

push it out of the way if we need to.

Hey, give us some room.

He's slamming on his brakes.

What is he trying to do?

What is he trying to accomplish now?

One of the police officers attempts a TVI,

which is Tactical Vehicle Intervention.

That boat is hard to TVI.

He's ramming us.

Hey back off a little bit,

back off a little bit.

Northbound I-35.

Once he gets on the Interstate,

you can get up to speeds

well over 100 miles an hour.

And as speed increases,

the danger increases.

There's a little bit of traffic,

but they're yielding to us.

You guys back there can make a wall,

to stop that traffic behind us.

We're blocking on ramps and off ramps

so we can be mindful of the public

not to get them involved.

When I saw a chance to go around,

I decided that I would just go

as fast as I could,

try to get up far enough ahead

to block the exits of I-35.

I could see him approaching,

and as he approached

I heard two loud thumps.

33, shots fired.

He's sh**ting out of his window.

This is as dangerous

as it gets in a pursuit.

He was sh**ting at me.

He could've k*lled somebody else.

If he comes northbound

do you want us to drop back?

Mason Dunn reporting live for us.

We do know two Oklahoma County

deputies have been shot.

We have two deputies

that are hurt pretty badly,

that were sent to the hospital.

One may be in a critical condition.

It put me through

an emotional roller coaster.

You know your deputies have been shot

and you still don't know the status,

but you know they've been shot.

And you're angry.

And then, you're worried, you know.

How are my guys doing?

Who else is he gonna put in danger?

And this is all going on while you're

operating your vehicle at high speed.

That is a lot of emotion.

Shots fired again, shots fired.

He's still sh**ting.

I'm talking on the air, trying to

stay calm and tell the story,

let people know where this guy is

going, to stay away.

I'm thinking in the back of my mind,

he's already harmed two officers.

They want him off the street,

not let him hurt anybody else.

They weren't messing around.

We have to apprehend this individual.

Hey, all these units passing us.

Back up! Do not pass us.

Ranger 114.

If anybody's on the westbound side,

when we get a clearing, take him out

with a shot, it's the best option.

Deadly force is reasonable

in this situation.

If he comes this way,

I'm gonna exchange g*nf*re with him.

We've seen what he's capable of.

This is worth the risk.

ARMED OFFICERS TAKE UP

POSITION AHEAD OF THE SUSPEC

Still northbound. He's moved to the

outside lane just north of 25th.

Everybody back off

except for that first car.

Even as reckless, as chaotic,

crazy as this particular incident was,

it was still the mindset

of everyone involved

to protect our community.

As he was going north on I-35,

I could see officers parked

on the side of the highway,

leaning over their hoods with their

r*fles, and sh**ting at the truck.

You could see the glass flying.

This officer had gotten

out of his vehicle,

on the median of the roadway.

Understanding his backdrop

was nothing that would put

our other public in harm's way.

And to get off shots as he was driving by.

I haven't seen that before,

where an officer was firing at a

truck going down the highway.

Not in Oklahoma.

Just lost something on the boat.

I think a wheel just came off.

If we didn't get him stopped,

multiple officers, civilians

could've been k*lled.

He's pushed over to the inside lane.

Still northbound.

He had already shot deputies.

He packed more a*mo, he packed more g*ns.

There's no rules

in this style of engagement.

PURSUING OFFICERS PREPARE

TO OPEN FIRE AGAIN

Officers and deputies were trying to

sh**t at him while they're driving.

We were talking on the radio,

where we're at, speeds.

Understanding his backdrop was nothing

that would put our other public

in harms way.

Let me slide around you, I've got a r*fle.

Driver switched over to the inside

lane. Still northbound.

I could take him out,

if some of you back off.

Shots fired. I think I hit him.

Looks like he's about to lose control.

And you could see the boat wiggling

back there, going left and right.

I was wondering how this was gonna end.

He's gonna do 40. I-40 eastbound.

There's construction here for a mile

and a half. It's gonna get tight.

Once he got to construction area,

it made him have to slow down,

which allowed officers

to get closer to him.

He's running into cones on purpose.

He started running over cones,

driving back and forth,

just trying to keep them at bay

as much as possible.

I'm just staying back, we've got way

too much traffic right now.

He was trying to cause distractions,

put things in the way.

Trying to create a means of escape.

He was just mowing over those

like they weren't even there.

Once we have helicopters in the air

covering it from above,

there's no way to escape the pursuit.

All right, he's taking the exit ramp.

THE ARMED SUSPECTS

MAKES A SUDDEN EXI

TOWARDS AN AIR FORCE BASE

When he headed

towards Tinker Air Force Base,

that just kinda put

a little exclamation point on it.

Now, you've got a whole nother situation

that's even more serious

if he makes it through the gate.

I got on the radio with the tower

and told them

in case he gets past the barricade.

This ends in a g*n fight.

Tell them to git, tell them to git!

Move everybody! Get everybody out!

If this is our opportunity to get in

and take him down,

we need to do it quick.

He put the g*n out the window

to where officers could see it.

With everything we've seen

throughout this entire incident,

from start, to the pursuit

and the shots he's fired at deputies,

the shots he's fired at police.

You're wondering, what is this?

- Hey, hey, hey.

- Stop! Stop! Bro stop! Stop!

- Hands behind your back!

- I can't.

Get on your side. Get on your

stomach. Get on your stomach!

- f*ck! f*ck! f*ck!

- Put your hands behind your back.

When the pursuit came to an end that way,

there's a little relief.

This part of it's over.

Nobody else got hurt.

Police chasing suspect vehicle

in deputy sh**ting

So now we got him into custody,

now that portion is over.

And it comes back to,

I gotta go check on my guys.

BOTH DEPUTIES ARE TREATED

AT THE HOSPITAL

FOR g*nsh*t WOUNDS

AT AROUND 3:50 PM

SERGEANT BOBBY SWARTZ

PASSES AWA

Deputies are here at the hospital,

and just praying for the families.

Law enforcement, it's a tight community.

I'm so thankful they were screaming

across the state for my guys.

THE SUSPECT IS CHARGED

WITH FIRST DEGREE m*rder

AND sh**ting

WITH INTENT TO k*ll

HE IS LATER DEEMED INCOMPETEN

TO STAND TRIAL

OKLAHOMA COUNTY

DEPUTY k*lled,

SECOND INJURED IN sh**ting

As you can see,

the long line of police cars

with the motorcycles out front.

It bothers me.

It bothered me then, it bothers me now.

I just wish that I had been there,

'cause maybe something

would've gone differently.

'Cause I would've laid

my life down for him.

And if I could change places

with him today, I would.

Bobby is a huge loss to me.

Our agency is very unique,

because we're such a family group.

And so those relationships, those

bonds are set and they're vibrant.

And to lose a vibrant part

of your community,

it hurts in a way you can't explain.

Bobby had a huge impact on our agency.

He will never be forgotten,

I will never forget Bobby Swartz.

Coweta County 911, Operator 17.

Where is your emergency?

I'm at a truck stop,

kind of behind the BP station.

I just seen people kind of walking

back behind my truck,

and I think they're trying to break

into these trucks and load stuff up.

And there is a U Haul truck that is

riding around the parking lot,

and I think they're with them.

It's a full sized U Haul,

one of the bigger ones.

An officer is coming to meet with you.

When I got the call,

the location I was at was just a few

miles north of the actual truck stop.

It's not a unusual call,

but any call can take a turn

for the worse.

I've seen two of them on foot.

They're still on scene potentially?

Yes, ma'am.

When I arrived on location,

I turned my camera on.

The other deputy was Deputy Luken Brown.

Hey, what y'all doing?

Hey, come here.

177 north. They're taking off.

Hey, come here! Get out of the truck!

10-80 with this U Haul box truck,

they're coming out the back.

At this point the pursuit begins.

The tag is

Immediately after the suspect

left the truck stop, he turned out

10-50, 10-50.

causing a head on collision.

We need somebody to check on

that vehicle he hit head on at,

from the pilot.

It looks like he's intentionally

trying to hit people there.

Innocent motors had to actually go

into the ditch to avoid being struck.

My immediate reaction was,

that this isn't good.

The occupants of the vehicle

could be injured.

I immediately had another deputy

who was behind us,

go check on them.

The offender intentionally striking

the motorist's vehicle head-on,

was absolutely an escalation

of this incident

and told me that he was willing

to hurt other people, to get away.

It made you have a moment

of a helpless feeling.

Of knowing that you had a duty

to stop him.

If the suspect had just stayed

and taken responsibility,

charges would been entering an auto

which is a felony.

Certainly not as severe

as assaulting somebody

with a motor vehicle.

Once he fled, now we're at,

you know, adding fleeing charges.

Once he hit the motor vehicle,

now we're adding felony fleeing,

felony aggravated as*ault.

THE U-HAUL IS NOW FACING

ONCOMING TRAFFIC

Coming up on 29. Still south on 27.

The suspect takes off south on highway 29.

The offender was driving in a way

that clearly had no regard

for the safety of anyone else

on the roadway.

At this point, the suspect definitely

had the advantage on us,

from the aspect of, we had no way

at this time to effectively stop him.

They're gonna hit somebody

head on here in just a second.

Our biggest concern is

the safety of innocent people.

They don't know what's coming.

Just tried to ram a car head on.

In a situation like this,

I absolutely need to control

the physical emotions,

to be able to concentrate

on bringing this to a safe end.

Officer advising, he's got no lights

on and he's coming southbound.

It's gonna be two males

and advise that he's driving

in the wrong lane of traffic.

1-36, be advised,

he's driving real reckless,

so he might try to come at you

if he sees you.

If the vehicle, like the one the

offender was driving,

were to strike a regular automobile

it would be catastrophic.

The two suspects don't wanna be in cuffs,

they don't wanna be arrested or face

the consequences for their actions.

This driver was desperate.

6 MILES AWAY

I heard about the call

from our in car police radio.

The initial reaction from having

the info of a U Haul truck fleeing,

is the sheer size of it.

And trying to process

how we're going to safely

and effectively stop this pursuit.

John and I, we've worked together

for a long time.

We're actually good friends,

and he's a very good police officer.

He's one of the best that,

you know, there is.

Coming up on the interstate now.

He's going to try and make a turn.

We're going north.

The offender getting on

the interstate, changes things.

Pursuing along a two lane road,

is different than on an interstate.

You've got a lot more motors.

Speeds are about 80, still southbound.

At that moment, it became more

challenging to to stop the subject.

SGT. THOMPSON

AND GRANTVILLE PD UNITS

CATCH UP WITH THE PURSUI

Units, this is 10-0. We got so many

cops out here, don't hit each other.

We had a large number of police

vehicles involved in the pursuit.

Trucks in the center lane, advise

Grantville to get out of the way.

Oh, he just tried to hit Grantville.

The suspect was escalating the situation.

Still trying to do whatever

he could to make us back off.

- We're not able to PIT this one.

- Negative.

The U-Haul van was two to three times

heavier than a normal automobile.

But if we try to PIT maneuver

on this vehicle,

it could force one of us off the roadway.

Stand down.

All right, Grantville is ahead 143.

I don't know if they've got sticks

out but we'll give them room.

So, now we need to end this pursuit,

via stop sticks.

I'm clear.

We'll get him at the 40 or the 38.

10-4. Let's try to see

if we can get him.

One of our deputy's had stop sticks

ready to be deployed

at a certain mile marker,

north of our location.

Tell Grantville they need to back up.

They're gonna get spike stripped

if they stay that close.

That's 10-4.

That's him.

59, give us a mark.

Be advised, he's intentionally

trying to hit law enforcement.

Try and get him on the car.

Get in the car!

Get in the car, get in the car!

- Did you hit him?

- Negative hit.

78, turn your blue lights off

so he doesn't see you.

I was definitely very concerned

for the people on the roadway,

and my fellow deputies.

The offender came very close

to a fuel tanker.

Striking a fuel tanker at 80 mph,

would've been catastrophic.

We are now coming under the exit ramp.

We knew that we needed

to get the offender stopped,

prior to the Bullsboro exit

which is at the 47 mile marker.

Mainly due to the large amount of traffic

that is known to be at this intersection.

We knew that this was going to up

the possibility

of a citizen being

seriously injured or k*lled.

59, see if you can speed up

and get way ahead

and set up sticks again.

174, I'm in the wall with stop sticks.

I'm gonna need time to know

where he is so I can get it across.

All right 174, we're coming up over

the hill for 39.

Everybody back up.

He's going from lane to lane,

so, we're at the 39 northbound,

coming up over the hill.

SECOND STOP STICK UNI

Center lane is where we've got him.

Negative hit! Negative hit!

DISTANCE TO INTERCHAGE: 3 MILES

At this moment,

we're really running out of options.

He's still in the center lane.

Weaving back and forth.

I am concerned, the closer we get

to that major interchange.

DISTANCE TO INTERCHANGE:

2 MILES

We have tried every option

that we possibly could,

to bring this to a safe end.

And it was evident

that the driver was gonna continue.

If we get a chance,

I'm not gonna let him hurt somebody

out there.

We were about a mile away

from the Bullsboro exit.

This intersection's very busy

with a lot of motorists.

Based on the offender's driving,

it was clear that he had no regard

for anyone else on the roadways.

The entire situation

had potential to seriously injure

or k*ll multiple people that evening.

We're running out of time.

10-4, 46 North,

we have motorists pulling over.

He's trying to hit them as well.

7-69 is behind you.

I'm trying to get permission from

C.O. to sh**t the tires out.

If that's an option for y'all?

sh**ting out the tires,

wouldn't have guaranteed a stop,

and we were getting too close

to additional traffic

coming onto the interstate.

Okay, all units, go to the right.

Go to the right side of him.

I'm gonna try to go

to the left side of him.

At that moment, of course,

it's a heavy decision to make.

Be advised we're at deadly force

in this situation guys, so

I've worked for Coweta County

for 16 years.

Before that night,

I had never had to use my firearm.

We're almost catching up a bit.

All units, go out to the scene,

go out to the scene.

Shots fired! Shots fired!

Shots fired, I think I got a hit.

He did not slow down.

Then I made the decision

to pull up next to him

and fire three more rounds.

We're gaining speed at him.

We're on top of the bridge.

He's stopping.

Units be ready.

It looks like he's coming to a stop.

Right lane.

You got visual over there?

I think I got him.

The driver, I think I got the driver.

I probably shot about six or seven times.

- John, are you good?

- I'm good.

- He didn't sh**t. I shot.

- No. I'm clear on that.

He's probably hit.

Having two suspects within the vehicle,

and we're going

to try to call the offenders out,

rather than us rushing

upon the cab of the vehicle.

If you've got a shield bring it up.

You don't know if they have

a violent past, if they're armed.

- Hands up! Hands up! Hands up!

- Hands out the window.

- Somebody else has got to take this.

- John, do you need a minute?

Yeah, go ahead. Go ahead. Go ahead.

The reason I had another officer

take over the commands,

is because I felt the adrenalin

I was experiencing may have

hindered any further decisions.

And I didn't wanna be involved

in any further use of force.

He's yelling something.

You had them all!

- Door, door, door!

- Hands, hands, hands!

You better get out!

- Show me your hands!

- One voice. One voice.

Come out with your hands up.

Do it now!

- Come out. Do it now!

- Don't sh**t.

Nobody's gonna sh**t you.

Get out here now.

On me. I'm on point.

- On three. On three.

- We're moving up.

- Hey, we're gonna have to approach.

- Yeah, we are.

Listen up. You're listening to me.

This voice right here.

- I'm with you, man.

- Hey, listen.

Keep your hands right there

and crawl out of the truck.

Now get your butt out. Let's go!

Crawl over the wall.

Listen to me, crawl over the wall.

The wall, crawl over the wall.

Let's go! Crawl over the wall.

You stay with me.

Crawl over the wall. Let's go.

Crawl over the wall.

Put your hands where we can see them.

When you touch down,

put your hands in the air.

- You understand?

- Yes, sir.

Keep them up. Let's go.

Do me a favor. Face away from us.

Face away from us.

Now back up!

Keep coming, right here to my voice.

Back up!

Get down on your knees. Do it now.

Get down on your knees. Do it now.

Spread your feet.

- Put your arms out. Palms out.

- I know.

- All right, hold it.

- We had two teams.

So once we had the passenger

out of the vehicle,

we had one focusing on the driver's

side of the U-Haul.

Driver, with your left hand,

open the door from the outside

and slowly exit the vehicle

with your hands visible.

From my position, we couldn't see

what the driver was doing.

You in the cab, put your hands up!

- I got two hands, two hands.

- All right, go. Go.

- He's shot.

- He's been shot?

The driver's shot.

He said the driver's shot.

He says he's shot in the back.

We might have to get him out.

So now the priorities are to get

the driver medical attention.

We were determined

to do everything we could,

so nobody died that night.

But, until they're in handcuffs,

this scene's not over.

Unbuckle your seatbelt, do it now.

Unbuckle your seatbelt,

with your right hand!

I can help you

if you unbuckle your seatbelt.

Push that seatbelt.

That's it, there you go, good.

- Make sure you get to pick her.

- Is that good a bit?

Take it from the other side.

Let Chance do his, do his work.

I did see the driver was not able to walk,

so I knew he had significant injuries.

The transition from, you know,

stopping this pursuit

to rendering aid, is quick.

We got an ambulance coming.

I never want that to happen to anybody.

But his actions, you know, caused this.

I approached Lieutenant Curtis.

- I had no choice.

- You need to calm down.

- You know, you did the right thing.

- I had no choice.

It was important that I let him know

that I was available,

if he needed something from a friend.

But also, on the professional side,

so that he could just take a moment.

After everything was done,

medical aid was rendered.

I remember turning my camera off

at the end.

THE TWO SUSPECTS ARE TAKEN

TO THE HOSPITAL

Innocent drivers were forced off the road,

a head on crash

in a sh**ting involving a deputy.

Now two people are facing charges

for all of the chaos.

It all started when the Coweta

County Sheriff's Office says

At the end of the day,

the passenger sustained no injuries.

However, the driver,

he did sustain serious injuries

to include paralyzation.

THE PASSENGER IS CHARGED

WITH ENTERING AN AUTOMOILE

WITH THE INTENT TO COMMIT THEF

THE DRIVER IS CHARGED

WITH FLEEING

OR ATTEMPTING TO ELUDE POLICE

AND AGGRAVATED ASSAUL

THEY AWAIT TRIAL

Since that situation, I haven't had

any what if's in my mind.

The only thing that I thought about

is we had let this go,

I really think

he would've k*lled somebody.

It makes you realize

how dangerous pursuits can be,

and how desperate some are to get away.

That they're willing

to hurt other people to do it.

THE GEORGIA BUREAU

OF INVESTOGATION FOUND

OFFICER CURTIS' USE OF FIREARM

A LAWFUL AC

I'm proud of the other deputies on shift,

and how they handled themselves.

As for me, nobody ever wants to use

deadly force as a police officer.

But, when we have to, you know,

when we have no other choice,

we're, we're trained to do that.