and sirens and drove the fastest and best i could to get there. as corporal mecham is radioing for help, he also yells for smith to drop his weapon. put that gun down or i will kill you! put the gun down! get your hands in the air! now! [ sirens ] when i heard simmons sirens a feeling of relief came over me. i knew i had help and quickly it would be over with. i got to the scene, corporal mecham was behind his car. i couldn t see the suspect at that time. he s got a gun, and we got to get away from him. he s been hit. cover him right now. corporal mecham and officer simmons cautiously approach smith. his hands auto got it don t look at the gun! don t you move! don t you move! i ll shot your ass again! don t move! put your hands behind your back.
lay your satchel thing right there. when mecham asks him to put the satchel down, it sets smith off. right there. well, you might have a warrant. a warrant? when he started backing up, i immediately knew then, that s a telltale sign of when someone is not compliant that they re the guy you re looking for. corporal mecham pleads with him to stop. don t do this. don t do this. i really thought he was going to run, and then a foot chase would ensue and possibly him be tasered, different things like that. that s what i meant when i said let s don t do this. don t do this, mr. smith. i certainly had no idea he was about to pull a gun. without warning smith reaches into his satchel and pulls out a revolver. okay, okay. okay. he pulled it out. i saw the barrel. i immediately started backing up as quickly as i could to create some distance and to get my gun out. corporal mecham backs up and
and best i could to get there. as corporal mecham is radioing for help, he also yells for smith to drop his weapon. put that gun down or i will kill you! put the gun down! get your hands in the air! now! when i heard simmons sirens a feeling of relief came over me. i knew i had help and quickly it would be over with. i got to the scene, corporal mecham was behind his car. i couldn t see the suspect at that time. he s got a gun, and we got to get away from him. he s been hit. corporal mecham and officer simmons cautiously approach smith. don t look at the gun! don t you move! don t you move! i ll shot your ass again! don t move! put your hands behind your back.
when mecham asks him to put the satchel down, it sets smith off. well, you might have a warrant. when he started backing up, i immediately knew then, that s a telltale sign of when someone is not compliant that they re the guy you re looking for. corporal mecham pleads with him to stop. don t do this. don t do this. i really thought he was going to run, and then a foot chase would ensue and possibly him be tasered, different things like that. that s what i meant when i said let s don t do this. don t do this, mr. smith. i certainly had no idea he was about to pull a gun. without warning smith reaches into his satchel and pulls out a revolver. he pulled it out. i saw the barrel. i immediately started backing up as quickly as i could to create some distance and to get my gun out. corporal mecham backs up and stumbles to the ground.
an ambulance arrives within minutes and takes daniel roy smith away. smith, as it turns out, is a career criminal, who had escaped from a halfway house. after this incident, he s convicted of attempted murder and firearm possession and sentenced to 50 years in prison. despite being shot at from point-blank range, corporal mecham escapes the incident without injury. he attributes that in part to a premonition he had the night before. basically, the night before i just had this feeling come over me that i needed to practice drawing my weapon and do that repeatedly. and i unloaded my gun, and then i started putting it back in the holster, securing it, and then what we call quick draw. and there s no doubt in my mind that that was heaven sent. that that i needed to practice more so than ever. that practice may have helped save the officer s life. corporal mecham the considers it