bad boys, bad boys…

so phil, the kids, and i were in our minivan driving through our
neighborhood this afternoon and we noticed several police cars parked
around a house a couple blocks away from ours. phil pointed out that
the police appeared to have set up a command post with a tent, video
monitors, and other equipment. he said it seemed like they’d been there
for a while since they felt the need for the sun tent. we commented on
the unusual sight since we live in a pretty quiet, peaceful area. we
didn’t think much of it after we passed by as our thoughts turned to
the indian tandoori buffet lunch we were about to enjoy.

after lunch, we were headed home again, but this time, the road we were
planning to take to get to our house was now blocked off with police
“crime scene” tape. we saw that some people had gathered in clusters
near the blocked off areas and then we saw that more police cars had
arrived while we were at lunch and a sheriff helicopter was circling
overhead. phil pointed out a SWAT team armored vehicle (looked like a
meaner version of the one used in “ocean’s 11”) was now there, too.

along with everyone else, we gathered across the street in the shopping
center near our place. the people inside the pizza place were all
coming out to see what was happening. we couldn’t believe our eyes! i
totally wished i had my camera with me, and seriously considered going
home for it since we were just a block away. then decided against it
since i didn’t want to be the one called out by the police to stop
taking pictures or something. but phil did manage to snap a couple pics
with his cell phone. too far away to really see anything though.

then we saw SWAT team guys picking up these huge guns and start
surrounding the house. the armored vehicle started moving slowly into
the driveway of the house. on the top of the vehicle was a circular
metal shield and one of the SWAT guys was positioned behind it with a
gun placed through the middle, aimed and ready to fire. a couple other
SWAT guys with their guns raised sat in the back of the truck.

once the truck got into the driveway, someone started speaking into a
megaphone, saying, “RESIDENTS OF **** LAZY MEADOW DRIVE, THIS IS THE
POLICE SWAT TEAM. WE HAVE YOUR HOUSE SURROUNDED. COME OUT WITH YOUR
ARMS RAISED AND WE WILL NOT HURT YOU. WE DO NOT WANT TO HARM YOU.” he
kept saying this over and over. everyone near us was watching in
stunned silence.

i told phil that i thought it best we go home. i didn’t want our kids
to see or hear anything further that would be upsetting or scary to
them. though they weren’t upset or scared at that point, just
fascinated as we were. so we took the roundabout way home and as we
were headed inside, we could hear the SWAT team guy repeating the
command after short pauses.

thankfully we didn’t hear anything more once we got inside. but later
in the afternoon, i went out to do some errands once the kids were
napping and saw that the police and SWAT team were all still there. i
came back and still they were there.

and tonight, phil went to our neighborhood market to pick up a couple
things- the same market parking lot we were in earlier. he came home
and told me all the police were gone, and all the lights were on in the
house but it looked empty. he thought maybe the police cleared the
house and made sure no one was left inside.

SO SCARY!

we’ve been watching the news and checking our local newspaper’s website
to see if we could find out what happened, but so far, nothing. there
weren’t any newspeople around when it was all happening. perhaps as
phil said, it’s not news if no one got hurt. let’s hope that was the
case!