The Start Of My New Years Eve: Intense
Dec 31, 2010 19:25:25 GMT -6
Post by Deleted on Dec 31, 2010 19:25:25 GMT -6
First of all: HAPPY NEW YEARS EVE EVERYONE! WOOOOOOO!
Second of all, my day has started off pretty intensely. I spent three and a half hours surrounded my local and national news media and reporters, police officers, Texas Rangers, FBI agents, and SWAT team members. I wasn't apart of the situation, though I think it could have been pretty legit to be in the middle of it all. Instead, I was across the street from a bank robbery turned hostage situation. I got to see some of my favorite local news reporters.
Apparently someone driving by a Chase Bank a few minutes from my house saw some people going into the bank with masks and called police. Police got there as the suspects were running out, exchanged fire, then went back in and took 10 hostages, though they thought they only had 7. Turns out 4 employees hid in a closet. The police knew about them, but the suspects didn't. One of the suspects gave himself up at the begining. The second suspect remained inside until about 4 o'clock. I got there at a little after one and stayed until a little after it was over. I saw the guy give himself up, I heard the flashbang go off, I saw the final hostages come out. Then I left.
It was pretty intense though. I saw snipers in place, SWAT teams getting ready, hostages being released. I saw my boss from my Census job there. There were a ton of people watching. I was standing with probably 60 other spectators and then tons of reporters and journalists. I had to park and then walk, though. They had 2 miles of the main road shut down. However, I got there when only about a mile was shut down, then they widened it. I guess since they had so many cops and such coming in. It probably made it easier to get SWAT and Texas Rangers into the area and what not.
It was definitely something to see. Only one injury, too, but that happened during the robbery and he was released pretty much immediately so he could get medical help. He was released from the hospital already. It was the bank's Assistant Manager, they assaulted him while trying to get him to open the safe. I guess they didn't do much damage though, since he was already released from the hospital after just a couple of hours. Thank goodness that was all though. The Lt. of the Pearland Police Department said the suspects are looking at Armed Robbery, Robbery, Assault, and more. It was hard to hear him when he was giving the interview because there was so much going on and he spoke in a rather soft voice. I was about 4-5 feet from him and could only make out about half of what he said.
It was definitely an experience. It was interesting to see what happens on scene and how this kind of situation is handled. Since I always read the news, I got to see how information is released and how rapidly. So it was kind of funny to go to the comment sections and see people complain about how they weren't releasing the ethnicity of the suspects because they were "probably black or illegal". In reality, no one knew the ethnicity, not even the police. It wasn't known until the suspect came out, and even then, it was hard to tell from our distance. To me, he appeared to be hispanic, but it was also hard to tell since I only got a glimpse of him before he was taken to the ground and arrested. They also had cars blocking the view so all you saw was the side of his head and his arms since he came out with them raised. But he was blocked by bushes, cars, trucks, SUV's, and then promptly surrounded by a SWAT team. So it was just funny how people thought the information and picture of him were being withheld so they couldn't make racist or bigot remarks about him. It wasn't withheld at all, it was completely unknown.
Second of all, my day has started off pretty intensely. I spent three and a half hours surrounded my local and national news media and reporters, police officers, Texas Rangers, FBI agents, and SWAT team members. I wasn't apart of the situation, though I think it could have been pretty legit to be in the middle of it all. Instead, I was across the street from a bank robbery turned hostage situation. I got to see some of my favorite local news reporters.
Apparently someone driving by a Chase Bank a few minutes from my house saw some people going into the bank with masks and called police. Police got there as the suspects were running out, exchanged fire, then went back in and took 10 hostages, though they thought they only had 7. Turns out 4 employees hid in a closet. The police knew about them, but the suspects didn't. One of the suspects gave himself up at the begining. The second suspect remained inside until about 4 o'clock. I got there at a little after one and stayed until a little after it was over. I saw the guy give himself up, I heard the flashbang go off, I saw the final hostages come out. Then I left.
It was pretty intense though. I saw snipers in place, SWAT teams getting ready, hostages being released. I saw my boss from my Census job there. There were a ton of people watching. I was standing with probably 60 other spectators and then tons of reporters and journalists. I had to park and then walk, though. They had 2 miles of the main road shut down. However, I got there when only about a mile was shut down, then they widened it. I guess since they had so many cops and such coming in. It probably made it easier to get SWAT and Texas Rangers into the area and what not.
It was definitely something to see. Only one injury, too, but that happened during the robbery and he was released pretty much immediately so he could get medical help. He was released from the hospital already. It was the bank's Assistant Manager, they assaulted him while trying to get him to open the safe. I guess they didn't do much damage though, since he was already released from the hospital after just a couple of hours. Thank goodness that was all though. The Lt. of the Pearland Police Department said the suspects are looking at Armed Robbery, Robbery, Assault, and more. It was hard to hear him when he was giving the interview because there was so much going on and he spoke in a rather soft voice. I was about 4-5 feet from him and could only make out about half of what he said.
It was definitely an experience. It was interesting to see what happens on scene and how this kind of situation is handled. Since I always read the news, I got to see how information is released and how rapidly. So it was kind of funny to go to the comment sections and see people complain about how they weren't releasing the ethnicity of the suspects because they were "probably black or illegal". In reality, no one knew the ethnicity, not even the police. It wasn't known until the suspect came out, and even then, it was hard to tell from our distance. To me, he appeared to be hispanic, but it was also hard to tell since I only got a glimpse of him before he was taken to the ground and arrested. They also had cars blocking the view so all you saw was the side of his head and his arms since he came out with them raised. But he was blocked by bushes, cars, trucks, SUV's, and then promptly surrounded by a SWAT team. So it was just funny how people thought the information and picture of him were being withheld so they couldn't make racist or bigot remarks about him. It wasn't withheld at all, it was completely unknown.