[narrator] In California, a gruesome call...
[man speaking]
[narrator] ...leads to a deadly pursuit.
[Recendez speaking]
[Matthew] At that point, I thought he was going to drive by us
and just start shooting rounds into our car
[gunshots]
[Gaskin speaking]
I hear the chaos of shots fired.
[Gaskin speaking]
[Jason] Officer down.
[narrator] In Utah, a late-night chase takes a dangerous turn.
[police sirens blaring]
[Jeremy speaking]
[Jeremy] I have a rifle in there.
And now this criminal has access to it.
[narrator] And in Illinois, officers respond to a burning building.
[Lori speaking]
The structure was occupied and the first level
was fully engulfed in flames.
[Jacquie speaking]
[Tyler speaking]
[Jacquie speaking]
[Tyler speaking]
[Tyler] If it hurt me in the process, so be it.
[dispatcher] Shots fired.
[indistinct chatter]
[police sirens blaring]
[narrator] In California, across the bay
from San Francisco is the city of Oakland.
[Matthew] Oakland as a whole there's a lot of violent crime.
I heard people say, "Oh, it's just part of living in Oakland."
There's a lot of shootings, a lot of, a lot of violence.
There's a lot of robberies.
It's a difficult city to work in.
I am Ramona Brisker.
I'm Tamisha Thomas's mother
A friend of Tamisha called and wanted her to come over
[narrator] At the party, Tamisha met a man she knew.
The next morning, he left with Tamisha,
supposedly to go get some food.
Maybe about 45 minutes later the girlfriend that
they had went and spent the night at called me, um,
and said that the guy had called and said something went wrong.
She was screaming and crying
[Ramona] I kept calling her phone.
It kept going straight to voicemail.
My main thought was, "Where is she?"
That's all it was, it was just, "Where is my daughter?"
I needed to call 911, immediately.
[Samuel] I got a call from my mom.
She just said that she thinks that somebody had did something to my sister.
So I just immediately went and drove around looking for my sister.
The police told us to go home and that they were going to do the searching.
So we just sat and waited.
Yeah, well, just the horriblest 12 hours of waiting.
[Samuel] It's the most anxio and the longest period of time ever.
Something for surely not right at this point.
[dispatcher speaking]
[man speaking]
[Jason] A cyclist had stumbl on to someone that had a bod
wrapped up in a blanket and had dumped in the hills of Oakland.
In my gut, I could just feel that he's witnessing something pretty horrific.
And we need to get officers up there as quick as possibl
[dispatcher speaking]
[man speaking]
[dispatcher speaking]
[man speaking]
I came on the radio as a supervisor
and direct my units to get up there,
authorized them to respond Code 3,
which is red lights and sirens.
[Matthew] Myself, Officer Recendez and Officer Perry,
were actually going out to do a security check.
So we decided to attach ourselves
to the call to help out patrol.
[dispatcher speaking]
[man speaking]
[dispatcher speaking]
[Jason] Pinehurst Road is a very remote area.
No homes, no nothing, just trees and road.
It's one of those, uh, areas where body dumps have happened in the past.
The officers that are responding,
they're going up Skyline towards Pinehurst Road.
And at the time, the suspect was coming down towards them
as they're going up towards the scene.
[narrator] With other units en route to the victim,
Sergeant Andersen instructs Officer Honn
and his colleagues to pursue the suspect vehicl
[Sarno speaking]
[Matthew] We made a U-turn taking off after the suspect
So there was myself and then three other
patrol cars traveling up the hill.
[Perry speaking]
Besides the description of him,
we didn't know who he was,
but there was no doubt in my mind that that was 100% the suspect.
People who haven't done anything wrong don't flee from the police.
[Perry speaking]
[Jason speaking on radio]
[Matthew speaking]
[Perry speaking]
In this instance, we had a female
that was massively bleeding from the head,
from some sort of head trauma, and that's when I came on the radio and said,
"We're gonna treat this as an attempt murder."
Obviously, the worse the crime,
the more leeway we're gonna get with the pursuit.
As in this case, we're talking attempted murder.
So in my mind, we need to catch this individual.
[Jason speaking on radio]
[Gaskin speaking]
[Jason speaking]
[Jason] You do want to catch this individual.
He needs to be held accountable for
what he's done for the victim's family and the victim.
[narrator] Once at the hospital,
the victim is identified as missing person Tamisha Thomas.
They said we found her.
She's still alive.
She's at a hospital in Oakland.
And that she had been shot in the head.
We needed to go to the hospital immediately
I was just scared and praying the whole way there
that she would be all right.
[Matthew] The update about the victim,
that cements what crime that you actually have
and the need to apprehend the suspect is far greater.
With something like an attempted murder.
The pursuit came out of the hills and got on to the freeway.
They're not stopping for red lights,
they're not stopping for stop signs.
They're blowing through the at whatever speed they're traveling at.
[Sarno speaking on radio]
[Sarno speaking]
[Matthew] The suspect, he stuck his arm out
the window and actually started waving...
I've never had somebody kind of taunt me during their pursuit.
Usually people are just trying to get away.
[Perry speaking]
[Recendez speaking]
[Perry speaking]
[Recendez speaking]
[Perry speaking]
[Matthew] Code 7 in Oakland is a radio code for a weapon
Things absolutely changed in my mind.
It was...
went from we're chasing a potential murder suspect
to we're chasing somebody who's likely going to start shooting at us.
[Recendez speaking]
[Perry speaking]
[Recendez speaking]
I'm on the air saying, "Back off.
Let's give him a little distance."
You don't want them too close to where he could get a lucky shot off.
[Jason speaking on radio]
[Matthew speaking]
[Perry speaking]
[Jason speaking on radio]
[Matthew speaking]
I started playing scenarios in my head that, "Okay,
if he starts shooting at us while we're driving,
what are we going to do if he stops,
stops the car and jumps out and starts shooting?"
[Sarno speaking]
[Recendez speaking]
[Matthew] At that point I thought he was going to
drive by us and just start shooting rounds into our car
[Carlson speaking on radio]
[Recendez speaking]
[Matthew] I accelerated our car as hard as I could
and have the amount of time that we were parallel to him as short as possible.
So if he were to start shooting at us that he would hopefully miss
[Jason speaking on radio]
[officer speaking on radio]
[Matthew] If the helicopter's availabl
you allow them to take over
That way you can disengage in the pursuit.
When you get speeds 60, 70 miles an hour on city streets,
it lowers the risk to the public significantly
So you let the helicopter, what we call, land the suspect.
[officer speaking]
[Perry speaking]
[Jason speaking on radio]
[Recendez speaking]
[Perry speaking]
[Recendez speaking]
[officer speaking]
I pulled over to the side of the road,
not knowing what he was going to do.
He flipped a U-turn and started driving back towards our direction.
So at that point, I knew that it was going to turn into a high-risk sto
[officer speaking]
[gunshots]
[police sirens blaring]
[officer speaking]
I hear the chaos come on the air of shots fired.
Officer down.
You're trying to get that information over the ai
Who's down?
Was he shot? How was he injured?
The officer had been hit by the suspect vehicle.
I can only imagine the injuries he sustained from being hit by that car.
In my mind, I was preparing myself for the worst because I...
I had a gut feeling that this might not end the way we hope it end.
[gunshots]
At that moment, everything kind of just
slowed down and it was a very strange, it was almost slow motion.
It's kind of like something you see in a movie, really.
[gunshots]
[police sirens blaring]
[gunshots]
[police sirens blaring]
[gunshots continue]
Everything happened really quick.
I remember thinking to myself, "Are you really shooting this slow?"
When in all reality, I wasn't shooting slow.
[Gaskin speaking]
[Jason] They're making split-second decisions.
No split seconds, if you hesitate,
could mean that you get seriously injured or killed.
[Sarno speaking]
I think chaos is a good word to describe, you know, what was unfolding.
[Matthew] I can see that Officer Perry
was actually down on the ground right in front of the suspect.
I can see the suspect still moving around inside the van.
I knew that he had to be pulled out from in front of the van.
No matter what the cost.
I didn't think about myself or really care about myself at that point.
[police sirens blaring]
[Recendez speaking]
[Gaskin speaking]
[Recendez speaking]
[Gaskin speaking]
[Recendez speaking]
[Gaskin speaking]
[Recendez speaking]
[Gaskin speaking]
[Perry speaking]
[Gaskin speaking]
We did what's called...
what we call "throw and go."
Basically, you put the offic in the back of the car and it's a lot faster for u
to put somebody in the back of the patrol car
and, you know, drive Code 3 with lights
and sirens to the hospital versus waiting for an ambulance.
[Gaskin speaking]
And the biggest weight on a supervisor's shoulder
is making sure that they're going home
at the end of the night to their loved ones.
And when someone gets hurt, it's very difficult on you.
[Gaskin speaking]
[Perry groaning]
[narrator] The suspect, Juan Ayon-Barraza,
is pronounced dead at the scene.
He had a history of arrests relating to alleged violenc against women.
His motive for shooting Tamisha was never discovered.
[Ramona] They told us we found him.
He was shot and killed by the police.
I didn't know him.
Met him maybe once, seen him a couple of times.
He was just around.
Never would have wanted to imagine anything like this happening in my life.
[narrator] In the same hospital
as Tamisha, Officer Perry also fights for his life.
He suffered several broken bones in his legs and hips in the crash.
He's badly injured, but doctors save his life.
That was a big weight off my shoulders to hear that he was conscious,
breathing and at the hospital being treated.
It took him a long time to recover.
He ended up medically retiring due to his injuries.
You know, a lot of times, you can go an entire career
and not have to be involved in anything like this.
I wouldn't say it changed the way that I do things.
I just take that experience that I had and, um, you know,
build upon that and better myself.
Everybody who was involved in the incident really showe
a tremendous amount of bravery.
They're all amazing officers
[Samuel] We were all at the hospital every day that she was there.
It was a silence in the air.
I think everybody was just in their head praying and hoping for the best.
It's kind of like you're in a bad dream, and you just...
you ain't waking up.
She did something to make everybody laugh around her.
If you was sad, she made you feel better.
She... everybody thinks they're her best friend
because that's how she made you feel.
Everything.
[Ramona] Definitely the worst nightmare
you can ever come across in your life to lose a child in that way.
Just never... never going to get over that.
But I have, I have, I have her.
Every day.
And I have her son, so.
I just gotta keep going and make sure he's okay.
She was the light in our family.
So there's just a part of us where that light is out.
[narrator] In Utah, 16 miles south of Salt Lake City,
lies the town of Cottonwood Heights.
[Adam] We have a lot of property crime,
a lot of vehicle burglaries, people breaking into cars.
But I wouldn't say a lot of violent crimes happen.
Very friendly neighborhoods.
A good place to raise your family.
[police sirens blaring]
[narrator] Just after midnight,
law enforcement spots an out-of-control motorcyclist
[officer speaking on radio]
[Jeremy] The suspect was failing to stop
for the officer at Cottonwood Heights.
[officer speaking on radio]
[Jeremy speaking on radio]
Cottonwood Heights said that they lost visual
of the motorcycle as they had entered the Draper city limits.
[Jeremy speaking]
[Jeremy] He crashed the motorcycle into a car.
[Jeremy speaking]
[Jeremy] At that point, he threw a backpack at me.
[Jeremy speaking]
[indistinct radio chatter]
[Jeremy speaking]
[dispatcher speaking]
Once I catch this guy, what's next?
Is it a knife fight? Is it a gun fight? Is it a fist fight?
[Jeremy] Copy?
[dispatcher] Copy.
[Jeremy speaking]
[dispatcher speaking]
[Jeremy speaking]
[Jeremy] I became physically ill to my stomach
I have a rifle in there with a large amount of ammunition,
a less-lethal shotgun, a Glock handgun.
And now this criminal has access to all of these.
[Jeremy speaking]
[Adam speaking on radio]
[Jeremy speaking]
[Adam speaking on radio]
The only thing I could do is listen to it over the radio.
[Jeremy] [bleep].
[Adam speaking]
[Adam] I observed the police car with the lights on.
And so I turned around and started to...
to chase this individual who had just stolen the police car.
[Adam speaking]
[officer 1 speaking on radio]
[Adam] It occurred to me tha the suspect was listening into our radio traffic.
[Adam speaking]
[officer 1 speaking on radio]
So I advised officers to switch to regional
so that we could communicat with each other without the suspect knowing
[officer 2 speaking on radio]
[Adam] Other officers at thi time were in the process
of trying to stop him as wel
[police sirens blaring]
[Eric speaking]
[Eric] This is the fastest police pursuit
that I've ever been in.
The suspect was going approximately 120 miles an hour down that road.
I actually spotted the vehicle fleeing
from the other officers, coming directly at my vehicle.
[Colby speaking]
And I had to quickly turn out of the way.
[Colby speaking]
[Eric speaking]
[Colby speaking on radio]
[officer 2 speaking on radio]
[Eric] An off-duty detectiv heard on the radio
that the pursuit was coming
He got the spikes set up for us.
[officer 2 speaking on radio]
[narrator] The officer gets a perfect hit on one of the tires.
[Colby] Because one of his tires began to flatte
he started to lose control and exited into a neighborhood.
[Colby speaking on radio]
[Colby] The vehicle crashed into a mailbox.
[Eric] I knew he's going to run.
And so I remember getting ready for whatever's going to happen next.
I could hear on the radio, one of my very good friends,
Officer Ewell, was the lead pursuing office
I didn't know how I would explain
to his wife if something happened to him
and that I was part to blame in this.
And that was one of the worst feelings
that I've ever felt.
[police sirens blaring]
[indistinct radio chatter]
[Eric speaking]
[bleep].
[Eric speaking]
[Kent screaming]
[dispatcher speaking]
[Jeremy speaking]
The relief made me ill.
I ended up vomiting on the road.
[Eric speaking]
We're able to figure out, his name is Kent Cody Barlow
who was already on the run from law enforcement,
had warrants for his arrest and he was out on parole.
[indistinct chatter]
[Colby speaking]
[Jeremy] Dispatch confirmed over the radio
that the vehicle indeed was a stolen motorcycle.
I searched the backpack.
I found drugs in it.
I found burglary tools.
I found a lot of property that appeared to be stolen.
[narrator] Kent Cody Barlow is convicted of multiple offenses,
including failure to stop and theft.
He is sentenced to a maximu of 15 years in jail.
I didn't even know how to process what had happened.
And just the relief that it had ended
and it had ended the right way.
[police sirens blaring]
[narrator] In Northern Illinois,
on the western edge of Chicago's suburbs lies the village of Montgomery.
[911 operator speaking]
[Lori speaking]
[911 operator speaking]
[Lori speaking]
[911 operator speaking]
[Lori speaking]
[police sirens blaring]
When dispatch received a 911 call for a structure fire,
we weren't far away from there,
so we responded to offer our assistance.
This call was urgent because dispatch
was telling us that the structure
was occupied and the first level was fully engulfed in flames.
As a sheriff's deputy, I was trying to think of a game plan
of how to assist the fire department
and get those individuals ou
[Kevin speaking]
[narrator] Officer Kevin Bay of the Montgomery
Police Department is first to arrive.
[Kevin speaking]
[Samuel Markusic speaking]
[Kevin speaking]
[indistinct chatter]
[breathing heavily]
[Kevin coughing]
[Samuel Markusic speaking]
[Tyler] We heard over the radio that
they were unable to make ent due to the smoke
and the flames of the first storey.
And kind of was thinking in my mind
was if there was another entrance in the back of the building.
When I arrived, I noticed that the Montgomery
Police Department was alread on scene and a fire engine
from the Oswego Fire Department.
[Tyler speaking]
[Tyler] And my partner, Deputy Markusic,
had his vehicle right there, and I knew that
there was going to be a lot of fire apparatus coming.
And I knew our vehicles were going to be in a way of that.
[Tyler speaking]
[Tyler] I thought it would be a good idea to also move mine just in case.
[Lori speaking]
[Tyler speaking]
[Lori speaking]
[Jacquie speaking]
[Tyler] [bleep].
[Tyler speaking]
[Tyler] [bleep].
[Jacquie speaking]
[Tyler speaking]
[Jacquie speaking]
[indistinct radio chatter]
[Tyler] Go, go, go, go, go.
[bleep].
[Jacquie speaking]
[Tyler speaking]
[Jacquie speaking]
[indistinct chatter]
[Tyler speaking]
[Tyler] I was going back to my patrol vehicle
when I could hear a faint scream...
[Lori speaking]
[Tyler] ...and that's when m and Deputy Mielke
started running towards the back of the residence.
We knew that they were in trouble and they really needed our help.
As I rounded the little fenc
I can see the entire first floor that was engulfe in flames.
The intensity of the heat was overwhelming.
And I can feel the hairs on my...
my arm starting to frizz a little bit.
I looked up and I saw a second-storey window
that also had smoke pouring out.
And there was two individuals trapped up there.
And I was looking for a tabl or some chairs,
anything that could get me up there a little bit closer to them.
At that point, the individuals had dropped
their dog out of the window
They knew that they were out of time.
And then I saw the first female
start to jump out of the window.
I knew that I wouldn't be able to catch her,
but I attempted anyway.
If it hurt me in the process so be it.
She actually hit my face first, ripping my glasses off,
and then her entire body bounced from my chest.
My body camera had became dislodged
and had fallen somewhere within the rubble of the fire.
The second individual had jumped
on the snow-covered ground and a bush.
[Samuel Markusic] I started running towards the back
of the house once I heard Deputy Giannotti
and Deputy Mielke yelling on the radio.
[Samuel Markusic speaking]
[Jacquie] Anyone else is at home?
-[Samuel Markusic speaking] -[Connie speaking]
[Jacquie] Okay.
[Samuel Markusic] It looked like they had already
gotten the occupants out of the house at that point.
[Samuel Markusic speaking]
[Connie breathing heavily]
[Tyler speaking]
[Samuel Markusic speaking]
[Connie speaking]
[Tyler speaking]
[Samuel Markusic speaking]
[Tyler speaking]
[Samuel Markusic speaking]
[Connie speaking]
[Samuel Markusic speaking]
[Lori speaking]
[Samuel Markusic speaking]
[Connie speaking]
[Samuel Markusic speaking]
[Lori speaking]
[Connie speaking]
[Samuel Markusic speaking]
I was pleased to see both of those occupants
walk away from that scene.
I mean, they had a lot of courage that day.
They probably felt safe knowing
that they both still had each other and their dog.
[Lori speaking]
[Samuel Markusic speaking]
[Connie speaking]
[Samuel Markusic speaking]
[Connie speaking]
[Samuel Markusic speaking]
[paramedic speaking]
[Samuel Markusic speaking]
[Jacquie] Once paramedics evaluated,
they were transported to area hospital.
[Connie] January 31st of 202
I remember hearing glass breaking.
I thought that someone was breaking in,
and by the time I got up and I made it to the doorway
of the room, all I see is just smoke.
So I ran downstairs and there was just a fire in the kitchen.
I remember screaming, "Call 911, call 911."
I was asleep, so I could not understand
why she's screaming call 911.
And then she said, "Fire."
So I immediately picked up the phone and called 911.
[Connie] I was barefoot, trying to put the fire out with water.
It was getting worse and hotter.
And so I remember running upstairs.
[Lori] I could see the smok coming in the room faster and faster and faster.
And that's when Connie ran up.
I remember seeing a lot of fire trucks and cop
but I remember nobody really coming the back way.
And I kept screaming back, "Back here!
Help! Help! Help, help! It's so hot."
So finally, I see this police officer.
And I just remember throwin Liam out the window first,
and then all I remember was going down.
But then when I turned, I see Connie falling and she just hit hard.
[Lori] Everything you have worked your whole life for,
in an instant, it's gone.
But we still have our lives.
So that's the gratitude that we have.
[Connie] It's been eight months since the fire
I'm still suffering.
I've been doing physical therapy.
[Lori] We know that it's never going to be how it was prior to the fire
but we are hopeful that we can keep rising.
To the officers that were there that night, thank you.
I will forever be grateful for those officers
and for all the nurses that treated Lori and I.
[Tyler] Deputy Mielke and Markusic and myself
were presented a Lifesaving Award
for the actions that took place on that night.
It was a good feeling, even though we're not lookin
for recognition or rewards or anything.
We just wanted to help them and we completed our objective
and they're here today and that's the only reward that we needed.