The life & times of Brown Sugar...

Friday morning. I woke up around 5:30am. I immediately started thinking about what I had to do that day. I thought about what all I had to do when I got to work. Considering I took off work the following day, I wanted to make sure I was caught up on my paperwork. The first thing on my things-to-do list was to go down the courthouse. I usually go there at least once, sometimes twice a week. Well I got to work around 7:30am. Thirty minutes earlier than I'm scheduled to be. I immediately commence to do my usual. Clean & disinfect my desk, telephone, keyboard, etc. As I sat there I realized that I actually had a lot or work to do. I went through all of my reports and set aside the ones I needed to type warrants up for. I already had one warrant typed up and ready to get signed by a judge. But since I was taking off the following day, I figured I'd go ahead and type up a few more instead of putting it off. That would keep me in the office a little longer than I anticipated. I had planned on going down to the the courthouse before they started calling their 9:00am court cases. I was hoping to be out of the office no later than 8:15am. Well, that didn't happen. People were coming in and out of the office. It was 9:00am before I knew it. Things were kind of hectic. The next thing I knew, I heard a lot of craziness on our radio. A man had somehow gotten hold of a gun - two guns - and shot a deputy sheriff, judge and court reporter down at the courthouse. What?!? I sat there and continued to listen intently. He had gotten away. Wait a minute. He shot another deputy sheriff outside the courthouse. How in the hell did he get out of the courthouse?!? Damn....more calls from 911. Dispatcher continues giving out lookouts of the suspect. Suspect carjacked vehicles.... No where to be found. 1 dead....3 wounded shown on the tv. All the while, I had already heard reports from my co-workers on the scene that three were actually dead. Dead before even making it to the hospital. But they didn't say that on the tv. My heart was hurting. I had all kinds of emotions going on through my head. That could have been anybody. Hell, that could have been ME walking into the courthouse and being met by suspect with gun in hand. NO CLUE. Defenseless. By this time, I'm receiving calls from friends outside of the state. Wanting to know what the hell is going on here in Atlanta. Damn...the media is something. They already knew and they are no where near Atlanta. All I could think about was, "Damn...you could have been down there. DAMN! You were on your way down there." THANK GOD I wasn't. Fortunately, something kept me in the office. Just think, I could have been down there in all that mass hysteria. That man turned Atlanta upside down for over 24 hours. That night, I was terrified. I'm not going to even lie. I spoke to another police officer who stated that they had received one tip that he was in the county where I lived at one point during the day. What did he tell me that for? I was nervous pervous for the remainder of the night. Couldn't sleep. I kept all lights on. Baby in bed. Dog underbed. Me....wide awake. Making sure gun was quickly accessible. The more I watched the breaking news, the more nervous I got. It was awful. Tears still come to my eyes just thinking about the whole ordeal. Situations like this make me think that I am in the wrong damn profession. But even saying that, it doesn't matter these days. These days, you can be at the RIGHT or WRONG place and it won't even matter. People are crazy. What made him snap like that? What makes anybody snap like that? Would YOU snap like that? I guess we never know. From my understanding, it all started with him not being able to handle his ex-girlfriend no longer wanting to be with him. Man.... It could have been you.