Southern Living: Finding and Landing That First Job – Part 3

     Now, I’m not stating right out that the average officer on the police department was trigger happy, or blind, but then most of them being either ex-marines or Vietnam vets, that could add a little fuel to a situation.  Late one afternoon the call came in that a couple of addicts were planning on going to the hospital, with a crazy idea of taking hostages and robbing the pharmacy of drugs.  Plans were made, officers rounded up, city personnel were deputized, shotguns handed out, and the rush of adrenalin could be smelled in the air.  By midnight the hospital staff had been warned, the doors locked, and the air filled with anticipation.  The grounds were surrounded by cops, and every Tom, Dick and Harry who could carry a gun, were all under cover, and out of sight.  On the evening in question, the perpetrators were not aided by the weather, the moon was bright, and only a few scattered clouds rushed across the darkened landscape.  On the dot of midnight, a car was heard pulling up a few hundred yards away.  All sounds hushed, they held their breath.   Two figures moved stealthily but purposefully across the lawn and slid under the cover of an outbuilding, near a huge propane tank. The minute they appeared on the other side, gunshots filled the air.  Only by the Grace of God did they not blow the whole building clear to Timbuktu. 

     “Stop.. Police” the chief yelled, as the two unfortunate thieves hit the ground.  In one, a hole the size of a bicycle helmet had blown through his upper torso, chest bone, blood and tissue, now fertilizer for the green expanse of grass behind him.  The other injured and dying, groaned, gasping for air, prone, a few steps to the right.  He didn’t have much of a chance as an officer put him out of his misery.   Now who amongst us is to say, that they didn’t do the right thing?  Think on it awhile.  No innocent people got hurt, no wasted hours of standoff and national notoriety, and no waste of the taxpayer’s money and manpower on a long, drawn out trial.  It was efficient and effective and there were two less low-life’s around to pollute the community. Welcome to the South.