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A Bald Eagle rising off the water surface of the Mongaup Falls Reservoir near Forestburgh after flying in for a fishing pass.
Our Daily Challenge - A Moment of Your Day - 12/25/18
A bright cloudless morning, and a tree next to my truck, decided to see what I could find beneath it's shade. I'm really loving this lens. Oh, this was off I-5 in Dunnigan California.
(repost)
That is what the California Highway Patrol officer said.
We were ensconced in an open garage waiting out an armed 211 suspect when those words were spoken.
My call came in at 2:30. A man was barricaded in his apartment after a shootout with police. At the time, I was home sick with a headache the size of the Rock of Gibraltar. But a barricade is a barricade and I threw on some clothes and rushed to the scene.
I stopped at the road closure and was waved through by one of the CHP guys that yelled, “Hey, I know you....go ahead.”
“OK”
After parking the car where the chippy said I should, I asked our esteemed parking enforcement officer (also known as the Parking Nazi) who was standing guard, where was everything happening and where should I go.
He motioned somewhere down the street towards some low-rent apartment complexes and told me to walk on the right side of the street through a vacant lot - nothing but dirt and a creosote bush.
“OK.”
I kept an eye out for what was going on and watched as the guys from the PD’s Special Response Team ( SRT) moved into place.
“Cool,” thought I and grabbed a few shots of one of the guys creeping across the roof, rifle in front of him, pack behind. I thought, “If I get nothing else this will be good art."
I heard people yelling at me and here comes the PIO from the Barstow Police running across the street telling me that hey, I was right in the line of fire and I should like move.
“OK.”
“Don’t go south of the palm tree,” he said, “that way you won’t be in the line of fire.”
“OK. Can I stand behind the palm tree?”
“Sure,” he said, “but I’m not responsible if you get shot.”
“OK”
Seemed to be my thought processes at the time, singular “OK’s”
I stood behind the palm tree for a little bit and then moved — I really wasn’t in the mood to get shot.
The reporter showed up, a radio guy showed up, a small TV station guy showed up and we all sat around in the heat waiting for something to happen....for a long time.
Negotiators were on the phone, relatives got on the phone to try and talk this guy out. The man had been wounded slightly in the first shootout — shot in the hand and the arm — and yelled out to his friends that he was afraid the cops were going to shoot him on sight.
We all knew that this would never happen, but the guy wouldn’t come out. The cops even brought him cigarettes when he asked for them - actually threw them up to him on the balcony. If they had wanted to shoot him, they could have at that time.
I got permission to wander a bit, down in parking area where the CHP rifle shooters were set up — watched them concentrate completely down their black gun sites. I was close enough that if I stuck my head out I could see the guy’s balcony — really, really well — with bloody curtains swaying in the wind.
Time wore on, heat got worse, men got shifted around so as to give the ones sitting in the sun a break.
We waited. Cops gave me Gatorade and water. It was hot.
As dusk set in I kept hoping this guy would come out with his hands up while I still had light to shoot by. Even with my new digital camera (YEA!) I was still a newbie at using the flash in low light situations so I wanted halfway good light.
I simply couldn’t figure out why this guy would NOT come out.
Was it the macho mentality of the whole gang banger personality? Was it that he knew he was facing some major jail time? He was already a loser in that department. What possibly could be worth prolonging this stand-off?
Time wore on some more. The apartment complex residents started getting restless. Hoots and hollers and jungle-like monkey noises came from the apartments and from those watching and waiting behind the lines. A bottle was thrown.
I have to admit, this made a me a tad nervous. I could just see this thing erupting into an all-out riot. Half the people in the complex were convinced the cops were going to gun the guy down and the other half were afraid of the first half.
Soon the cops had enough waiting and started firing tear gas canisters into the apartment. Oh my! Horrible sound those loud guns. Once that tear gas thing started I didn’t stick my head out any more. I crouched down behind a car. I could still see the CHP shooters but wasn’t in the line of fire.
Good thing.
Several minutes after the first rounds of tear gas were volleyed into the apartment there came three quick shots - pop - pop - pop — out the sliding glass door — over the balcony.
“Holy shit,” thought I, “that guy is firing at us.”
“Hey,” I yelled, “Was he shooting this way.”
“Yes, Lara, he was shooting this way.”
I crouched down lower. Just about fully dark now. The people that had come out to watch were yelling the guy was yelling babies were screaming and one Barstow cop remarked, “I can’t believe these people brought their kids out to a gunfight.”
Law enforcement did not return gun fire but more tear gas was used.
Still no sound, no reaction from the barricaded man.
One of the CHP guys came back down into our spot and said that after the three rounds fired by the suspect, one more shot was heard a few minutes later - muffled. Not aimed out the sliding glass door — inside the building.
He said quietly that he had heard _that_ sound before.
Time was starting to lose meaning. Amidst the noise and chaos I had been on the phone relaying the latest developments to the reporter who had gone back to write his story. More tear gas was lobbed into the building but the feeling was that the man had offed himself with that final fourth shot.
My deadline to leave was fast approaching — close to 9 p.m. I had the images from the afternoon’s deployment and some close-ups of the guys close to me. But no resolution. No closure.
The crowd up the street was really starting to turn ugly and I debated going up to photograph that, but figured that a camera flashing would trigger the already riotous behaviour that was growing.
Two guys threw bottles at the sheriff’s SWAT team. Ooooh, not a good idea. Those SWAT-dudes are bad-asses with attitudes and guns. They do NOT take kindly to being pelted with bottles. The bottle-throwers were arrested and the crowd scene cooled after that.
No lights were on in the apartment, no movement was seen and all negotiations had long since broken off. The man’s last words and comments to the negotiator were pretty much that the only way he was going to leave was in a body bag.
I still hoped not, but I left to file my art. Before I left the center of the action, which is where I had been allowed to stay (don’t ask me why, I was just allowed to stay.) I made sure the police chief and one of the LT’s knew I was returning and wanted to be back close to where things were happening.
“Sure.” they said, “Just show your press pass, tell whoever we said it was ok and come on back - stay out of the line of fire.”
“OK”
I left, filed the creeping-across-the-roof pic and one of two officers and a bullet proof shield and came back.
Things were as I left them — no more noise, no more nothing.
About 11 p.m. the sheriff's office took over. The Barstow PD SRT and CHP back-ups had been on duty squinting down their sites for almost 8 hours, it was time for a relief team.
I watched the camouflaged SWATs come in, dash about the courtyard smashing out the remaining lights that would put them in danger and get into place, covering each other with guns pointed toward the apartment as they ran across the courtyard.
I couldn’t help myself, I thought “Jeez, this is just like in the movies.” Only this time it was for real — surrealistic, but real.
When the Barstow guys and CHP left I was still standing there all by my lonesome. One of them yelled back at me, “You probably ought to come out too.”
“OK.”
That seemed like a good idea to me — it was dark and I didn’t like being alone.
I came up out of the garage hole and plopped down on the front of a fire truck. Sheriff’s homicide detectives were wondering who the hell was I and why was I there. I smiled, introduced myself and sat back quietly on the fire engine, hoping that no one would actually notice me. I even put my camera down.
The sheriff’s Captain saw me, smiled and let me stay. I was now considered a “friendly.” Cool.
I had kept in contact with the night editor at our sister paper, even after the Dispatch went to bed, did some interviewing, got the correct on-the-record-quotes that supported the police’s version of what happened and waited — and waited.
For almost an hour after the SO took over a deputy called out over a loud speaker. “Aaron. Come out with your hands up. The building is surrounded.” Every few minutes for almost an hour. Over and over. The same tone of voice. No emotion. It could have been a computerized recording it was so precisely repeated, but it wasn’t.
Aaron didn’t come out.
Talking time was up and the SWAT team started in with more powerful tear gas. Volley after volley. No Aaron. He was either immune to the gas or dead.
Soon the team took out the doors and entered the building using flash-bang devices before going into each room - “auditory and visual distractions” they call them.
Hell honey, those are bombs.
Every time they said over the radio they were setting off another one, all the law enforcement guys, suits, SWAT dudes, everybody around me, put their fingers in their ears. I wish I had photographed that, but it is hard to hold a camera with your fingers in your ears.
Time moved faster, soon after the SWAT guys entered they called for the SO medics that had flown in on a chopper. Word came out fast that it was over, Aaron was dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head.
It was one o’clock in the morning. There was almost a palpable sigh, a slumping of the shoulders when it was over. I had been at the scene for almost ten hours.
It was not a good resolution. Not the one that everyone; law enforcement, medics, firefighters, friends and family had hoped for.
I remembered what the CHP shooter said after word came in about the fourth shot — “We are in a stand-off with a dead man.”
He was right.
•••••••••••••
Rest in Peace Aaron
The Great Blue Heron with a wingspan up to six and a half feet is the largest heron in North America. There is a good chance you will spot one near small bodies of water, in wetlands or on the weedy shores of a lake. During the springtime in Minnesota small farm ponds are another location they inhabit. They hunt by stalking, sometimes standing absolutely still before making a quick thrust with their bill to capture their prey.
The red and gray foxes do not get along. Usually the gray fox would run, as the red fox is dominant. But the gray fox has kits nearby, and has refused to back down during their last few encounters. The gray likes to crouch low, and attack from that position. Happily, this encounter ended peacefully, with each fox going his own way. I shot this from my deck in NE Oklahoma.
At The Fifty
Theory . Paloma Shag Rug . Mahogany
Theory . Paloma Diffuser . Walnut
Theory . Paloma Lamp
Theory . Paloma Catch-All
Other items used ~
7 - First Class
7 - Double "T" Planter
7 - #10
Pitaya - Morocco Dreams - Seat pillows three
Soy. Coffee Table [tiled top]
[Merak] - Potted Plant B
[Merak] - Vase B
[Merak] - Vase A
[Merak] - Mushroom Decor
[Merak] - Wooden Plate Decor
(NO) CopyCat Art - Cat With a Pearl Earring
(NO) CopyCat Art - Whiskers & His Feather Toy
Ariskea[New wave] Women Art
[North Oak] + Metro Oak Couch (champagne)
Theory . Verlin Mirror . 24 Karat
Theory . Verlin Table Lamp . Cork
Theory . Cactus Takeout Planter (Salsa)
Fancy Decor: Aventine Leaning Drawing
Fancy Decor: Donan Candlesticks
Apple Fall Euphorbia Cactus
Apple Fall Pearl Inlay Frame - 1:1
Apple Fall Reclaimed Plank Shelf
Apple Fall Old Canvas Trunk
Apple Fall Books - Arrangement 10
Apple Fall Books - Arrangement 7
[ Venture ] Mushrooms - Vintage Stripe
[ Venture ] Fur - Brown
[ Venture ] Free as a Bird
dust bunny . eclectic tables . tiles . olive
[Rezz Room] French Bulldog Animesh (Companion) v1.0.0
{vespertine}thrift store giraffe planter - pencil cactus/clay
+Half-Deer+ Love Succs - Heart Cactus
Dahlia - Island Botanica - Pilia - Beige L
tarte. hanging spider plant
floorplan. colorblock portrait / bouquet
(Milk Motion) vintage needlepoint frame 4
Rural Fire Service doing controlled burn-off ... the smoke has been settling in every night for about 5 days now!
As an empty string waits to back in, a loaded coal train pumps out of the loading area at Sandaoling.
Some of the drivers seemed to be putting on quite the show for us and the growing numbers of locals and foreigners coming to witness the last of steam in China. A brief piece in the China Daily online while we were there mentioned the end of steam will come to Sandoling this year.
16 Jan 2015
The general cargo ship 'Scot Trader' under tow by the tug 'Duke II'. en-route from Rochester to Hull. Again they appear to be riding out the coming storm 'Jorge' by sailing back and forth a few miles off Cley.
'Seaway Moxie' also at anchor.
Again a monster zoom.
(Mis pequeñinas nuevas sdfkjsidjfrd)
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Reddish Egret shaking the water off itself in the early morning light at J.N. Ding Darling NWR, Sanibel Island, Florida last Spring.
Flying over the Nef Glacier in a door off helicopter the long thin bright blue run-off stream flowing down glacier, caught my eye. Parque National Laguna San Rafael, Aysen, Patagonia, Chile. Just another sign of the melting and retraction of the glaciers.
07/02/2021 www.allenfotowild.com
Shaking it Off
Reed cormorant shaking off the water after going fishing. Cormorants do not have the same level of waterproofing as most aquatic birds and thus have to spend a lot of time drying out their feathers between dives
We are off to New York for 7 days...Hannah and Lucy are coming with us and there is so much we want to see and do.
The last time we went was one week, exactly to the time, before the Twin Towers came down. I have photographs of the boys at the very top looking out and at the bottom drinking hot chocolate from a little stall that stood there.
I remember the pains that shot down my legs when I heard the terrible news. I was at work and just couldn’t believe what I was hearing.
George watched the news and tried to make sense of what he was seeing. Charlie, younger, coped better in his way.
George turned to me and said,
‘We would have been okay Mum....we could have held onto the mast at the top and gone down with it...like a ride.’
I have never held my sons so close as I did that night.
There but for the grace of God.......
take care my friends.....with love always....xx