I am used to being on crime scenes. I've been there minutes after someone was shot, body still hot on the ground. I've had people yell at us, tell us to leave, maybe even threaten harm a few times, but still felt relatively safe. Most of the time police are in close proximity, or I can calmly talk to a person.
Things were a bit different in Cocoa, Fl today. My photographer Marcus (he's pictured in my hurricane story) and I were following up on a story from yesterday morning.
A father of five had just taken his son to the bus stop when a guy rode up on a bike and shot him. He died. This morning, we were talking about the fact that kids would have to go to that same bus stop, with the killer still on the run. So we parked on the street where he was killed, it was very dark, a typical neighborhood. I didn't feel unsafe. This is what we do everyday.
About 4:40 am, a man comes out of the dark, it startles me. He knocked on my window, Marcus was in the back of the live truck and we were preparing for a liveshot. He yells that someone wanted to talk to us, and points toward the back of the truck and then WALKS back across the street into the dark.
Things were a bit different in Cocoa, Fl today. My photographer Marcus (he's pictured in my hurricane story) and I were following up on a story from yesterday morning.
A father of five had just taken his son to the bus stop when a guy rode up on a bike and shot him. He died. This morning, we were talking about the fact that kids would have to go to that same bus stop, with the killer still on the run. So we parked on the street where he was killed, it was very dark, a typical neighborhood. I didn't feel unsafe. This is what we do everyday.
About 4:40 am, a man comes out of the dark, it startles me. He knocked on my window, Marcus was in the back of the live truck and we were preparing for a liveshot. He yells that someone wanted to talk to us, and points toward the back of the truck and then WALKS back across the street into the dark.
I didn't open the door, but my photographer Marcus got out, walked toward the back and said "what's up!" There was a car with it's lights facing us, blinding Marcus from seeing. No one got out of the car, and Marcus jumped back in to finish our work. I locked the doors and he mentioned how he wasn't about to try and engage them because he couldn't see. Meanwhile the car is just lurking behind ours (he had total space to pull up alongside).
I'm on the lookout for the mysterious man who walked away, and trying to keep attention on the car that I can't see because it's behind us and we don't have a back window. The car eventually creeps away. I call 911. We did not have the ability to drive off, because our mast (the big long satellite thing) was up.
I'm on the lookout for the mysterious man who walked away, and trying to keep attention on the car that I can't see because it's behind us and we don't have a back window. The car eventually creeps away. I call 911. We did not have the ability to drive off, because our mast (the big long satellite thing) was up.
The News 6 live truck
Officers swarmed the area, but didn't find the guy. We were live in less than 10 minutes. I THOUGHT things were over and most of the officers left. One officer parked across the street when suddenly the car drove by again really slow and honked at us. He didn't see the officer, and the officer didn't see him. I jumped out of the car and tried to alert the officer to which way he went. We were once again left by ourselves for a few minutes until more officers came over.
More time goes by, an officer parks behind us with the lights off, and the car drives by for the THIRD TIME, stopping at a corner and just staring. I jump out and point. The officer rushes behind and catches the car BUT the guy rushes to his home, starts yelling and goes inside. They are not allowed to follow him into his home.
At this point, I'm feeling really unsafe, only shielded by the fact that officers are staying close to us. I thought that the guy definitely wouldn't come back since he was technically "caught." But he drives by slow for a FOURTH TIME. The officer finally catches him and pulls him over. I don't know the outcome of that stop, yet.
All of this time, I'm wondering what happened to the man who initially walked over and knocked on the window. I didn't know if either had a gun/knife or if they intended to hurt us. I really don't know what was going on. I am thankful that whatever their intent, we had divine protection.
We left the area completely to somewhere safer. I've never had something like this happen before...still shaking a bit as I write.
More time goes by, an officer parks behind us with the lights off, and the car drives by for the THIRD TIME, stopping at a corner and just staring. I jump out and point. The officer rushes behind and catches the car BUT the guy rushes to his home, starts yelling and goes inside. They are not allowed to follow him into his home.
At this point, I'm feeling really unsafe, only shielded by the fact that officers are staying close to us. I thought that the guy definitely wouldn't come back since he was technically "caught." But he drives by slow for a FOURTH TIME. The officer finally catches him and pulls him over. I don't know the outcome of that stop, yet.
All of this time, I'm wondering what happened to the man who initially walked over and knocked on the window. I didn't know if either had a gun/knife or if they intended to hurt us. I really don't know what was going on. I am thankful that whatever their intent, we had divine protection.
We left the area completely to somewhere safer. I've never had something like this happen before...still shaking a bit as I write.
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