An Old Press Release
Village public safety officer defuses tense situation
July 2001
A Village Public Safety Officer had his hands full dealing with an intoxicated and armed man holed up in his house in theVillage Thursday.
The Strategic Emergency Response Team, the Alaska State Troops version of a SWAT team, was three minutes from landing in theVillage when VPSO Flyinghorse coaxed D. 30, to lay down his gun and come out of his house, Troop Lt. Les Farming said.
"Flyinghorse flat had his hands full and didn't crumble,"
"He was trying to appease him (D.), pass information on to us while we're trying to muster people and get them up there. And he was dealing with other intoxicated individuals that were wandering in and out of the scene."
R.D. was intoxicated and had allegedly fired his rifle three or four times, according to troops. Another man accused D. of pointing the rifle at him with the intent to shoot, while D.'s son told troopers he had grabbed his mother's hair and was banging her against the wall, a criminal complaint says.
Troops were preparing for a long stand-off by flying four SERT team members in with others waiting in theCity to relieve them if needed.
"We were looking at this as a long-term containment," Farming said. "When there's a guy holed up in a house, time is on our side."
When the plane touched down, Flyinghorse had D. detained and ready to turn over to troops.
"Flyinghorse is a hero to me," Farming said.
D. was arrested by troops and charged with third- and fourth-degree assault and handling a weapon while intoxicated.
End Press Release
(details changed to reflect current crime activities and to protect anonymity of people involved)
theSam!! says
Just looking through some old 3.5" discs I stored info on while in theVillages.
A story like this is sterile. You read it and gather concise information and move on with your life and ofttimes we never stop to think about what really happened and why.
And I often wonder why I lived through this moment that early morning. Why didn't the man shoot me? I walked up to him in front of the whole Village that had gathered to watch, got at least 4' from the end of his rifle barrel pointed at my head, and it was loaded / condition 1.
No time to stop and think, go on up and show no fear. Demand the rifle, stop this. Put it down, don't blink and for God sakes No sudden fast moves or I'm dead.
Just got out of bed, sweats, t-shirt, large flannel-style shirt over that and shoes.
No uniform, no body armor.
There were 3 more Weapons calls that month too. I didn't back down from any of those situations. And I haven't backed down from anything else since then either. I know the concussion of a rifle fired in my direction. The sting of poweder is like a slap in the face, the bullet is like a laser beam glowing reddish yellow.
At times I stood beside myself watching me, watching Him. Seeing theVillage.
This thing happens to me during stressful events. Once in awhile I've done it just out of the blue. I don't want to go too far from Me though. It's odd and so cool.
My Satellite phone that the nonprofit agency lent to me cut out 3 or 4 times due to bad weather. I was on the phone to Dispatch in theCity about 3hrs. Man what a phone bill.
I spoke to one of the State Troops but I don't recall whom, perhaps it was the one that thought I was a hero.
I'm no hero. I'm nobody. I'm a ghost to people. I'm a fly on theWall. I'm conveniently put away until I'm needed.
To me the State Troops are heros. To me the full fledged Police and the Military are the real hero's. They're the good guys & gals.
And I don't care what this press release says, there was only 2 Troops that showed up by aircraft.
One was the pilot and the other was dressed in SERT greens. Those two guys were the hero's to me. I've flown in and out of that Village and know the flight times, the speeds of flight and altitudes for small craft. I know this because I was a flight student and have flown many times.
The SERT team members might have been paged where they lived throughout theCity but there was no cavalry that showed up. Just two Troops and really that was all that was needed. I hate thePress sometimes because they get the story wrong.
The real hero's face this stuff everyday, month after month, year after year. Some die at scenes similar to this. Some get killed in car crashes pursuing the bad guys or else from just plain out-having an accident.
To me Mothers are hero's as well.
Without mothers we all wouldn't be here.
In theVillage I saw a few single mothers, some girls got out of high school and months later they were "showing".
I loved those kids that I got to see and hold. Innocence and purity they were.
And for theChildren and for theElders of theVillage is why I dutifully ran, sped in the pickup truck to my Destiny.
Later on it's why I quietly and oftimes openly armed myself.
You can't expect to work 9-5 in theVillage while in uniform. It just doesn't work that way.
You can't turn people away for anything. Which is what I did later on, and I did this only ONCE. The woman that I did say no to had prior history of DUI and at times she just "cried wolf".
I said no to her that one time because I was tired, had been up a few days Literally and needed to rest or else I was going to wreck my car or misjudge something and have a really bad day.
When you choose to wear the mantle of whatever calling you choose. You must also accept Everything else that may go with it. And in the end the final responsibility is yours and yours alone.
I accept this fact. It's why I'm so upset at others sometimes when I feel they're not doing what they should be doing in their line of work in theVillage. Yeah I messed up Once by saying no and I never did it again.
Another time I was taking Wedding pictures and received word of someone needing me 30 miles away from theVillage. Of course I found out hours after the rollover accident happened and the people were already helped by then.
Nobody knew, but afterwards I cried about that one. Taking pictures when I should have travelled theRoad and helped some people.
I realize now that Mama just has an ordinary son. He's not recording music records even though he can play guitar and piano and write words & music.
He's not shutterbugging for Time or NewsWeek or any other Agency even though he started his picture taking long ago with a homemade box with a pin hole and a simple shutter and a roll of film.
Even though Mama's son never played for NBA and earned millions like Jordan Air, ol' Son E. Boy could run and dunk with the rest of his peers at one time.
And the list goes on and on with Art, theMilitary, Church, Cosmetology, Massage.
My parents and older relations just got an ordinary man to carry on the family name. I've seen it in other peoples lives that most of us are just ordinary.
Yet most of us aspire to bigger things.
And that's what sets us apart from everyone else. The Hope, the Dream, the Idea that there is something more.
And that Hope to achieve something more drove me to apply for VPSO and it pulled me out of bed each morning afterwards month after month.
I've been around theWorld and I can say that Americans are truly free.
We are idealists. We are up There and everyone else aspires to emulate us.
Endless Hope and endless Promise is what we are.
I think that such ordinary-ness is what makes us all Hero's.
I wasn't the Hero that day. I had Village backup. I had a few other men arm themselves and stand behind me as I approached the Gunman.
There were a few Women in and out of the crime scene as well that needed to be there.
They held theWife and Son, both of which were beaten bloody. By the way, it was theSon that later on snuck into theHouse behind the Father's back and ran away with theRifle. I never talked the weapon away from the man. Seeing that he was unarmed he gave up immediately.
If needed I'll accept praise and will act the part for theChildren and other people that need an example to follow. But I don't call myself what others call me. I was not alone that morning, for there were lots of Hero's alongside me in theVillage.
And you know what? You are a Hero to someone as well.
Peace.
theSam!!
July 2001
A Village Public Safety Officer had his hands full dealing with an intoxicated and armed man holed up in his house in theVillage Thursday.
The Strategic Emergency Response Team, the Alaska State Troops version of a SWAT team, was three minutes from landing in theVillage when VPSO Flyinghorse coaxed D. 30, to lay down his gun and come out of his house, Troop Lt. Les Farming said.
"Flyinghorse flat had his hands full and didn't crumble,"
"He was trying to appease him (D.), pass information on to us while we're trying to muster people and get them up there. And he was dealing with other intoxicated individuals that were wandering in and out of the scene."
R.D. was intoxicated and had allegedly fired his rifle three or four times, according to troops. Another man accused D. of pointing the rifle at him with the intent to shoot, while D.'s son told troopers he had grabbed his mother's hair and was banging her against the wall, a criminal complaint says.
Troops were preparing for a long stand-off by flying four SERT team members in with others waiting in theCity to relieve them if needed.
"We were looking at this as a long-term containment," Farming said. "When there's a guy holed up in a house, time is on our side."
When the plane touched down, Flyinghorse had D. detained and ready to turn over to troops.
"Flyinghorse is a hero to me," Farming said.
D. was arrested by troops and charged with third- and fourth-degree assault and handling a weapon while intoxicated.
End Press Release
(details changed to reflect current crime activities and to protect anonymity of people involved)
theSam!! says
Just looking through some old 3.5" discs I stored info on while in theVillages.
A story like this is sterile. You read it and gather concise information and move on with your life and ofttimes we never stop to think about what really happened and why.
And I often wonder why I lived through this moment that early morning. Why didn't the man shoot me? I walked up to him in front of the whole Village that had gathered to watch, got at least 4' from the end of his rifle barrel pointed at my head, and it was loaded / condition 1.
No time to stop and think, go on up and show no fear. Demand the rifle, stop this. Put it down, don't blink and for God sakes No sudden fast moves or I'm dead.
Just got out of bed, sweats, t-shirt, large flannel-style shirt over that and shoes.
No uniform, no body armor.
There were 3 more Weapons calls that month too. I didn't back down from any of those situations. And I haven't backed down from anything else since then either. I know the concussion of a rifle fired in my direction. The sting of poweder is like a slap in the face, the bullet is like a laser beam glowing reddish yellow.
At times I stood beside myself watching me, watching Him. Seeing theVillage.
This thing happens to me during stressful events. Once in awhile I've done it just out of the blue. I don't want to go too far from Me though. It's odd and so cool.
My Satellite phone that the nonprofit agency lent to me cut out 3 or 4 times due to bad weather. I was on the phone to Dispatch in theCity about 3hrs. Man what a phone bill.
I spoke to one of the State Troops but I don't recall whom, perhaps it was the one that thought I was a hero.
I'm no hero. I'm nobody. I'm a ghost to people. I'm a fly on theWall. I'm conveniently put away until I'm needed.
To me the State Troops are heros. To me the full fledged Police and the Military are the real hero's. They're the good guys & gals.
And I don't care what this press release says, there was only 2 Troops that showed up by aircraft.
One was the pilot and the other was dressed in SERT greens. Those two guys were the hero's to me. I've flown in and out of that Village and know the flight times, the speeds of flight and altitudes for small craft. I know this because I was a flight student and have flown many times.
The SERT team members might have been paged where they lived throughout theCity but there was no cavalry that showed up. Just two Troops and really that was all that was needed. I hate thePress sometimes because they get the story wrong.
The real hero's face this stuff everyday, month after month, year after year. Some die at scenes similar to this. Some get killed in car crashes pursuing the bad guys or else from just plain out-having an accident.
To me Mothers are hero's as well.
Without mothers we all wouldn't be here.
In theVillage I saw a few single mothers, some girls got out of high school and months later they were "showing".
I loved those kids that I got to see and hold. Innocence and purity they were.
And for theChildren and for theElders of theVillage is why I dutifully ran, sped in the pickup truck to my Destiny.
Later on it's why I quietly and oftimes openly armed myself.
You can't expect to work 9-5 in theVillage while in uniform. It just doesn't work that way.
You can't turn people away for anything. Which is what I did later on, and I did this only ONCE. The woman that I did say no to had prior history of DUI and at times she just "cried wolf".
I said no to her that one time because I was tired, had been up a few days Literally and needed to rest or else I was going to wreck my car or misjudge something and have a really bad day.
When you choose to wear the mantle of whatever calling you choose. You must also accept Everything else that may go with it. And in the end the final responsibility is yours and yours alone.
I accept this fact. It's why I'm so upset at others sometimes when I feel they're not doing what they should be doing in their line of work in theVillage. Yeah I messed up Once by saying no and I never did it again.
Another time I was taking Wedding pictures and received word of someone needing me 30 miles away from theVillage. Of course I found out hours after the rollover accident happened and the people were already helped by then.
Nobody knew, but afterwards I cried about that one. Taking pictures when I should have travelled theRoad and helped some people.
I realize now that Mama just has an ordinary son. He's not recording music records even though he can play guitar and piano and write words & music.
He's not shutterbugging for Time or NewsWeek or any other Agency even though he started his picture taking long ago with a homemade box with a pin hole and a simple shutter and a roll of film.
Even though Mama's son never played for NBA and earned millions like Jordan Air, ol' Son E. Boy could run and dunk with the rest of his peers at one time.
And the list goes on and on with Art, theMilitary, Church, Cosmetology, Massage.
My parents and older relations just got an ordinary man to carry on the family name. I've seen it in other peoples lives that most of us are just ordinary.
Yet most of us aspire to bigger things.
And that's what sets us apart from everyone else. The Hope, the Dream, the Idea that there is something more.
And that Hope to achieve something more drove me to apply for VPSO and it pulled me out of bed each morning afterwards month after month.
I've been around theWorld and I can say that Americans are truly free.
We are idealists. We are up There and everyone else aspires to emulate us.
Endless Hope and endless Promise is what we are.
I think that such ordinary-ness is what makes us all Hero's.
I wasn't the Hero that day. I had Village backup. I had a few other men arm themselves and stand behind me as I approached the Gunman.
There were a few Women in and out of the crime scene as well that needed to be there.
They held theWife and Son, both of which were beaten bloody. By the way, it was theSon that later on snuck into theHouse behind the Father's back and ran away with theRifle. I never talked the weapon away from the man. Seeing that he was unarmed he gave up immediately.
If needed I'll accept praise and will act the part for theChildren and other people that need an example to follow. But I don't call myself what others call me. I was not alone that morning, for there were lots of Hero's alongside me in theVillage.
And you know what? You are a Hero to someone as well.
Peace.
theSam!!
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