Police Officer who stabbed Firefighters speaks out

[Hockey]

Pretty well written article and quite interesting

The sun was just beginning to rise as Bradley Colas squeezed his eyes shut.

When he opened them, U.S. 13 stretched out before him. The Eastern Shore's tree-lined fields and weather-worn farmhouses whisked by.

He pressed hard on the accelerator of his 1999 Honda Civic.

He was in a hurry the morning of March 4. Somewhere in Philadelphia, he believed, there was evil to be vanquished.

In the predawn darkness, the rookie Virginia Beach police officer had strapped to his right hip his off-duty gun. He tucked a knife in his left pants pocket. Then he loaded his trunk with police gear and drove north, across the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel and up the Shore.

God wants to test my faith, he thought.

He flew past the mom-and-pop diners, the seafood shacks, the motels that had long since billed their last guests.

The world seemed to move at half speed as his speedometer inched up toward 100 mph - almost double the speed limit.

Again, he closed his eyes.

Read More: http://hamptonroads.com/2012/06/beach-officer-tells-story-medicineinduced-psychosis

 

[STXmedic]

That was actually written very well. Glad there were no serious, lasting injuries involved.

 

[Aidey]

What effing nitwit thinks it is a good idea to disarm a man with a gun?! They got VERY lucky.

 

[Anonymous]

Not the first time I have heard of Biaxin causing similar effects.

 

[Achilles]

Yes earlier when I was readin all of the asinine comments on Facebook, I decided to look at the drug and it has the listed side effects that this gentleman had. In addtion to that, three doctors stated the drug caused it and he was not a threat to society.

 

[Achilles]

What effing nitwit thinks it is a good idea to disarm a man with a gun?! They got VERY lucky.

That's what I was wondering when I read the article.

 

[Aidey]

I read that part more than once because I wasn't sure I was reading it right. Unless they were also police officers they should have backed out as soon as they realized that he was armed and not acting right.

 

[bstone]

That's a pretty intense story.

 

[mycrofft]

He was armed, so instead of running away from his "demons" or trying to arrest or duke it out with them, he tried to use a weapon. The means at hand suggests the measures.

 

[bigbaldguy]

As I read it the firefighters didn't know he had the gun until they had already closed with him and gotten into an argument over the radio. To have disengaged at this point might have meant turning their backs on a crazy man with a gun. Putting distance between you and a gun isn't always the best course of action as you can't outrun a gun. I wouldn't judge the actions of the FFs too harshly since we weren't there and ave no idea how it actually went down.

I would like to point out that this is an excellent example of superior numbers not necessarily meaning a safe situation. We sometimes think that just because there are a lot of people around we can relax our situational awareness.

 

[Expat]

A colleague of mine had a similar experience with a diabetic off duty security guard. Came out as diabetic emergency, in a public place, but was late at night. It wasn't until they had made contact with the pt that they realized he was armed and altered, and the pt tried to draw his gun. Two crew members fought him for several minutes and neither could key up their radio to ask for help as they were each using both hands to keep his gun in his holster. The pt was giving it everything, scared, and in his mind, fighting for his life, and the crew literally fought for theirs. Luckily a cop arrived five or six minutes later but he was just passing, not dispatched. Very close call.