Nancy B. Kennedy - Miracles & Moments of Grace: Inspiring Stories of Survival

I was fairly new to the Tampa, Florida, police force when one night I was assignedto what was called the walking beat in the downtown area.

It was a typical summer night for Florida, hot and oppressively humid. My partnerand I were parked at a curb, both of us sitting in the front seat. I had the dooropen, trying to catch what little breeze I could.

We had been talking for a timeit was about 10 oclock at nightwhen we heard footstepscoming up quickly from behind us. I got out of the car, and a man ran up to me, breathingheavily.

Its being robbed! The Franklin Street Bar! the man cried, out of breath.

We were only a few blocks away from the bar, so I jumped back into the squad car.My partner did a U-turn and quickly drove the four blocks to the intersection wherethe bar sat on one corner. The front door of the bar faced catty-corner, across theopposite side of the intersection.

We stopped in the middle of the intersection. It was a small intersection, so wewere only a few feet from the sidewalk, and the bar opened directly onto the sidewalk.We each exited the car, leaving our doors open, and took cover behind them.

The door to the bar was openfor the same reason I had opened the squad car door,to catch a breezeand inside I could see patrons lying on the floor, and the robberbehind the bar. He was a male in his late 20s or early 30s, and he had a gun.

Just then, the squad car started rolling toward the bar. My partner had forgottento put it in park! As the car rolled forward, the driver-side door closed. My partnertried to reach in through the open window and put the car in park, but he couldntmanage it. Within seconds, the car hit the wall of the bar to the left of the frontdoor, slinging him forward against the wall.

With the squad car gone, there I was crouching down in the middle of the intersection,my Smith & Wesson .38 Special drawn, but no cover. What am I going to do now?I thought, my mind racing.

I looked through the open door to the bar, where the robber was. He was pointinghis gun straight at me!

We made eye contact. I had no idea whether he would start shootingwhether I wouldlive or die.

In that moment, I experienced fear as I had never faced fear before. I was a target!

The possibility of death was very real. Stupidly, I had chosen not to wear my bulletproofvest that night. At the time, it wasnt required of police officers, and with theheat and humidity, I just thought it would be unbearably hot. Had I made a fatalmistake?

That moment when our eyes locked is etched forever in my mind. Time stood still.It couldnt have been more than a few seconds, but it felt as though everything wasmoving in slow motion.

I made my way to the wall next to the door. At the same time, the robber took offrunning, heading toward the rear of the bar, and a third officer who had arrivedon the scene entered the building. I heard him give the command: Stop! Stop! Police!