mike r.

Former Chicago Il. Police Officer
Shot: September 10 1994
Chicago Illinois

I couldn't get any shots off

Mike R: "I was in the Chicago Police Department on the gang crimes tactical unit. There'd been a report of a possible gang meeting and of shots being fired. We approached the area driving slowly down the alley and an individual jumped out of the darkness and ran in front of our unmarked vehicle. My partner shouted, 'He's got a gun!' The individual stuck his hand right into the cab of our car and began shooting.

"I don't know where I was hit first. I began struggling with him and at the same time trying to move our car into forward or reverse, out of the line of fire. I was screaming, and kicking his arm and holding his hand and he put the gun in my chest and fired point blank. During the time I was being shot and struggling with this guy I realized what was taking place: I was going to die in this alley. I knew I had been shot. I didn't know how severe my injuries were. I realized I'm fighting a losing battle because I couldn't get any shots off.

Just seeing that flash, that's it, that's how you die

"Finally I prayed, God, if I'm going to die, then okay, what I don't want is to see the flash of this gun in my face. All I could think of was, he's going to shoot me in my head and just seeing that flash, and that's it, that's how you die. I didn't want to see that, I thought I would try to muster as much strength as possible to turn away.

I saw the vision of my deceased mother in the back seat of the car

"So when I did turn to my right, I gave up with this guy shooting me and I let go of his arm and turned my whole head and body as far to the right as I could, so that if he's going to shoot me he's going to have to shoot me in the back of the head. But when I turned what I saw was the vision of my deceased mother in the back seat of the car. She pulled me to her bosom, she put her hands behind my head and just held me there for a second. There was one final shot. I got hit in the back, in the upper left shoulder, and that one final shot, which I thought was going to be in the back of my head, it went in my back. Then the guy took off running. When I got hit in the back my mom released me. I turned around to my partner and said, 'We're not going to die!' I was shot thirteen times."