[woman 2]
[narrator] In Michigan...
[Sgt. Kuehn] If he's willin to shoot family members,
we're pretty sure he doesn't care about law enforcement.
[woman 2]
[narrator] ...a shooter's family tries to talk him dow
[woman 2]
[woman 2 screaming]
[narrator] In Florida...
[Lt. Parkton]
People are getting pulled by the current into the dredge equipment.
-[man] -[Lt. Parkton]
[Lt. Parkton] We were going to have drownings.
It wasn't a matter of, if,
it was a matter of, how many.
[narrator] And a van load of marijuana
smashes it's way through the city of Detroit
He did not care about the life of anyone,
even hisself.
[indistinct radio conversation]
[narrator] Fifteen miles north of Detroit, Michigan, is Clinton township.
[Sgt. Kuehn] On the night in question,
I was at our station here.
And our dispatchers came over the air
and said that there was a shooting in Mount Clemens.
And that the victim drove themselves to the jail.
[woman 1]
-[woman 1] -[officer 1]
[woman 1]
Their lip was shot.
She's shot in the arm, she's losing blood.
So, you've got deputies trying to apply a tournique
to cut off blood loss at that point.
[officer 1]
-[officer 2] -[officer 1]
[woman 1 groans]
There was a child in the back seat
at the, uh, time of this shooting.
[officer 1]
[narrator] The victim's two-year-old son is unharmed.
[officer 1]
All right.
[narrator] He's being cared for in the car of a passer-b who witnessed the shooting.
[witness]
[Sgt. Kuehn] In this situation, uh, law enforceme is super lucky
to have an eye witness that followed her up there
that give us crucial information,
uh, leading to know who did this to her.
[woman 1]
-[officer 3] -[woman 1]
[officer 2]
[officer 4]
The registered owner was Devonita Blakes.
[narrator] Devonita Blakes is the father of the victim's son.
You just wonder what the thought process
of this person was at the time of the incident,
that they don't care about anything.
No thought for life or this child.
It takes it up another level that you really want to go get this person,
that they have their disregard for life,
that they're going to put a, uh, child...
who is as innocent as innocent can be in danger.
[narrator] A deputy calls the victim's mother.
[siren wailing]
[Sgt. Kuehn] The blue Grand Cherokee was registere
to an address in our township.
[siren wailing]
[Sgt. Kuehn] Uh, tactically whenever we arrive on a scene like this,
we're not going to be rolling up with lights on,
as to draw attention to ourselves.
We're going to come in stealth mode, uh,
you know, so the suspect doesn't see us right away.
We observed his vehicle, the Grand Cherokee.
[officer 5]
[Sgt. Kuehn] All the window were tinted, so it was hard to see.
[operator]
[Sgt. Kuehn] So, now, at this point,
our train of thought moved to his apartment.
[officer 6]
We've got a suspect who had just shot somebody he knows
in the case, with the child in the car.
And we're assuming that the suspect is up in the apartment.
[Sgt. Kuehn] Uh, if he's willing to shoot family members,
we're pretty sure he doesn' care about law enforcement.
We'd like to get everybody out of there,
just in case if shots are fired,
that no one else is hurt.
[officer 4]
[woman 2]
-[officer] -[Sgt. Kuehn]
-[officer] -[woman 2]
-[officer]
[woman 2]
I hear a female yelling or a female walking up.
-[officer] -[woman]
[woman 2]
[Sgt. Kuehn] This was a family member
that could have valuable intel on the suspect.
[woman 2]
Having a family member in this situation, it is...
it can complicate things but it can also help.
[woman 2]
She was pretty nervous.
I mean, I could see that she understood
how significant this whole situation was.
She's got a family member that's involved in something uh, bad,
so, she was scared for him.
[woman 2]
[Devonita]
[woman]
[gunshots]
[woman 2 screaming]
We just start hearing gun fire up above us.
[operator]
[woman screaming]
[Sgt. Kuehn] Gunfire is alwa a surprise.
Even though we're ready for it,
you never know if or when it's going to happen.
[woman 2]
[Sgt. Kuehn] Everything happened so quick.
From the glimpse of hope that, "Hey, we're about to end this peacefully..."
-[Devonita] -[woman 2]
[gunshots]
[Sgt. Kuehn] ...then almost immediately after shots are being fired.
[Sgt. Kuehn] With the buildings all close, the shot tackles,
you don't realize how close it is,
till after the fact.
But it was loud it. It...
it threw us all off, you know.
We're trying to figure out what just happened,
where did those shots come from.
[woman screaming]
Officer Rowan has a rifle in the car.
We decide that he's going to get his rifle out,
aimed in the apartment to keep an eye on it from that, uh, angle.
The entrance way to this,
a stairwell, is just, uh, a tunnel
that goes three stories up with stairwells.
Tactically, he is at an elevated position,
so he's got better angles, he's get better eye sight on us, so...
this is a very bad situatio for us.
We call it a fatal funnel.
[indistinct shouting]
So, we move back, one stairwell to the east of this location,
to provide better cover for us.
[woman 2]
[Sgt. Kuehn] At this point, we know deadly forces are..
in our grasp here.
Uh, this person has already shot somebody
with a kid in the car.
And now, he's shooting again
So...
we're-- we're ready to return fire.
[woman 2]
[Devonita]
-[woman 2] -[woman 3]
-[woman 2] -[woman 3 crying]
[Devonita]
[woman 2]
[Devonita]
-[woman 2] -[Devonita]
[woman 2]
[Devonita]
-[woman 2] -[woman 3]
[woman 2]
-[Devonita] -[woman 2]
[officer 5]
-[woman 3] -[officer]
[woman 3]
[woman 2]
[Devonita]
-[officer 1] -[officer 2]
[officer 1]
[Sgt. Kuehn] Devonita seeme pretty calm to me. He just walked out.
He listened to our orders.
We-- we handcuffed him.
I don't remember him really saying much
but he was pretty calm. Seemed to me.
[Devonita]
Yeah. It's-- it's weird,
you know, that, just he's so calm when everything's so tense.
There was one bullet hole through the driver side window,
uh, right near where my head would be if I was sitting in it.
And there was one through the hood.
Not that many rounds were fired off. I don't recall how many,
but the fact that two of them hit my patrol vehicle and nothing else right there,
tells me he's trying to kill us or or injure us.
It puts it in perspective how close I could have been to dying.
[woman 2]
-[woman 2] -[woman 3] They always...
[woman 2]
[woman 4]
[narrator] The victim of the shooting survives.
Her child, who was also Blakes son, is uninjured.
Devonita Darryl Blakes is convicted on two counts of assault
with intent to murder, child abuse,
malicious destruction of property
and firearms offenses.
He is sentenced to a maximu of 25 years in prison.
[Sgt. Kuehn] Twenty five jus doesn't seem to me enough.
Uh, it seems like it should be longer.
Uh, this guy has got no, uh...
thought for life or care for life,
so...
you wonder if that person should ever be allowed in society.
Can the next 25 years in jail fix him?
I don't know. Possibly.
-But... -[gunshots]
...I feel that people lose the right once they make decisions like this to...
be a part of society.
[narrator] In Florida's Panhandle...
is the beach town of Destin
Lieutenant Brian Parkton has patrolled these waters since 2007.
[Lt. Parkton] Destin is know as the Emerald Coast.
We have beautiful waters and white beaches.
It's a big tourist destination.
The members of the Marine Un with the Oakland County Sheriff's Office,
they're responsible for boating safety.
Probably two-thirds of the time spent on the water
is dealing with people that need assistance.
Not everybody is familiar with the waters and the tide and the currents,
so, there are people that get themselves in bad situations.
Although, our waters are extremely beautiful,
it can quickly change.
We have the Destin Pass, which leads out into the Gulf of Mexico.
It can be a very treacherous inlet.
The currents can get extremely difficult.
I hate to say it, but every year we have a large amount of drowning.
It was the Friday before Memorial Day weekend.
It's, kind of, the kickoff to summer,
so, there's always a large amount of vessels on the water in this area.
It was approximately 3:00 p.
The call was from a boat captain
indicating that there is a vessel that was sinking in Destin pass.
There was another Deputy that was on the boat with me, David Bowell.
We were on the north west side of the Destin Bridge.
We weren't too far away,
so, our response was really quick.
We really didn't know what we were dealing with
until we got on scene and we were able to see.
I immediately knew this was a bad situation.
We had a extremely strong outgoing current.
You have a vessel with a lot of people on it that is unable to fight that current.
Even worse, there was a dred in the path.
[Sgt. Bowell] The dredge pum sand up from the gulf
through a pretty large pipe and dumps it onto the beach,
kind of like a big vacuum.
The vessel that was working with the dredge equipment,
they had the vessel underto doing the best they can
to try and pull them away.
But...
with the vessel floundering and not having any way to steer itself or anything,
they were at the whim of the currents.
They could be pulled into the dredge equipment and pinned against there,
or, uh, pulled under the equipment and be pulled out into the Gulf of Mexico.
[Sgt. Bowell] The back of the boat was definitely starting to take on water.
They had scared looks on their face.
They were wanting us to com and get them.
[Lt. Parkton] They were panicking.
There was a female in the back of the boat
that, I think, was wanting to jump off.
You have to remain calm.
When you panic, you may put yourself in a position
that's even worse than the position that you're currently in.
I'm very limited on my maneuverability and my capabilities,
especially in this current.
My initial thought was to go ahead and start planning for the worst.
[narrator] Destin Beach lifeguard, Hunter Ruddell, is on duty nearby.
Any second wasted might be someone's life.
I got on the jet ski in maybe a minute or less.
The jet ski goes really fast
You could maneuver it a lot better.
You have a sled.
It can easily get a patient on and off,
and it's almost dummy-proof
I knew that this was going to be something serious.
I could definitely feel how fast the current was really pushing it.
Things could go very bad in a matter of seconds.
Everything happened very quickly.
The line snapped on the boat
[Lt. Parkton] I don't know if it ripped or it broke,
but my heart dropped and I knew it was a bad situation.
I knew we were going to have drownings.
It wasn't a matter of, if,
it was a matter of, how many.
[Lt. Parkton] The Destin Pas was exceptionally rough.
It was testing my capabilities.
As the vessel rolls, you can see it putting people in the water.
And as the current begins to pull out even harder...
It'll pull them under with or without the vest.
You can get smashed against the rocks,
pulled underneath and trapped underneath the dredge or the pollens that are there.
We had no time to waste.
But I couldn't get up there close because I needed to no get us in trouble.
The, uh, rescuer doesn't need to become the rescued.
Thankfully, the wave runner showed up on scene.
[woman]
[Lt. Parkton]
[Sgt. Bowell] I was relieved
They just shot in between us and the boat.
[Hunter] It was pretty chaotic.
There was a lot of panic. There was a lot of screaming
The first thing that I thought was,
I need to get these people somewhere that they're safe.
[Lt. Parkton] He quickly became engaged.
He didn't wait for direction from myself or anybody else.
[Hunter] The first person that I got on my jet ski was a young kid.
[Lt. Parkton] I tried to ge as close as I could but safely.
It was a consistent battle of driving the vessel
and maintaining it in those waters.
Our whole process is,
get them off that [indistinct] as quick as we can and get him back over there
We still weren't sure of how many people we had in the water.
[Hunter] Went back. I got another on the back of the sled.
It didn't help that it was choppy.
Grab him! Grab him!
[Lt. Parkton] Come on! Come on!
[Sgt. Bowell] The water was pretty rough.
It was scary.
[operator 1 on radio]
[operator 2 on radio]
[operator 3 on radio]
[Lt. Parkton]
Is everybody here?
At the time it was all hecti
we had multiple different agencies involved.
The United States Coast Guar the Destin Fire Department and Destin Beach Safety.
So, I wasn't sure how many other people
have been pulled from the water from other agencies.
[Sgt. Bowell] We're trying to get a solid number.
Was everyone out of the water? Are we still missing anyone?
Did someone go under the dredge pipe?
Did someone get pulled out into the gulf?
[Sgt. Bowell] The kids were looking for their mom.
The mom, had gone.
[Lt. Parkton] It appeared th she's going to be pulled ou into the Gulf of Mexico.
[Sgt. Bowell] There's alway current coming in.
It's just churns.
You're going to ride that current until it spits you out.
[Lt. Parkton] I start tellin the other Marine units that
"Hey! They need to get around to the other side of the barge."
[operator 4 on radio]
We identified that Mom and one of the brothers
were picked up on another boat.
[operator 4 on radio]
[Lt. Parkton]
I heard from several people that there was nine.
[operator 4 on radio]
[Lt. Parkton]
[operator 3 indistinct on radio]
[Lt. Parkton]
We were able to gather from that communication
that, "Hey, we had everybody at that time."
[Sgt. Bowell] The family that was on the boat wanted to see the gulf.
They were actually from a neighboring town,
and they went out and felt how rough it is,
and decided that they needed to turn and come back.
So, they attempted to turn in the pass.
And you can't do that.
They were immediately taken over by water.
[Lt. Parkton] The vessel motor quit,
they lost power,
and they began to flounder.
And that point is when other people recognized that they needed assistance.
The people that were pulled out of the water and put on our vessel,
there were some that were kind of in shock,
some were pretty emotional.
There was one young boy that I grabbed and sat him u on the helm chair beside me
and just tried to tell him, "Hey! Hey, young man. All is good."
There was another female that was pretty emotional on the front.
[woman 1] We got five on our boat.
[Lt. Parkton] We started heading back to the United States Coast Guard.
[Sgt. Bowell]
[Lt. Parkton]
Everybody that came out of the water on this day is extremely lucky.
And if it wasn't for them wearing life jackets,
we would have, no doubt, had drownings.
It was one of the most intense situations that I've ever been in.
[Hunter] We got back to the Coast Guard station.
The moms were hugging their kids.
That was a great feeling.
I'm blessed to even just be a part of Destin Beach Safety.
[Lt. Parkton] This incident will forever stick out in my career
just because of the amount of people that were involved.
[Sgt. Bowell] It's probably one of the most dangerous ones that I've seen.
Fortunately, they all had their vests on.
We did our jobs and they're safe.
[narrator] In Michigan, between Lake St. Clair and Lake Erie,
lies the city of Wyandotte.
[Officer Worley] I grew up in Wyandotte my whole life.
Uh, I always want to be a police officer since I was a little kid.
Grew up with no dad.
You know, it's something for a kid
for their father to walk out of their life and...
um, I always looked up to Wyandotte Police.
[911 operator on phone]
[man 1]
[911 operator on phone]
[man 1]
[Officer Worley] That night I had a call.
Few suspects breaking into something in the area of Elm Street.
As I arrived, I was checking down the alley's, checking each street,
seeing if I could find, mayb anybody out there committing a crime.
[door closes]
[Officer Worley] I see a van A white van in the alleyway
I knew from the way he held himself that he was on the lookout,
and there was a crime being committed.
The passenger of the van took off
'cause he knew I was zoned in on the driver.
As I'm chasing the van, he puts it in drive
and he starts driving at me
He's coming at me.
Do I jump out of the way?
Do I shoot the suspect?
[Officer Worley] I jumped out of the way
and the van brushed me as I jumped out of the way.
At this time, I'm by myself
Do I go after the driver?
Or do I stay with the passenger?
Well, we are always taught, you take the driver.
As he drove off and crashes into my police truck.
But I noticed my truck is still drivable.
[Officer Groat]
[Officer Worley]
[siren wailing]
[Officer Worley]
I realized pretty quickly
that the pursuit was heading right towards where I was coming from.
I see the white, uh, white panel van go past me.
[Officer Groat on radio]
So, at that point, I joined in the pursuit behind Officer Worley
and became the second car in the pursuit.
For us, the second car always calls out all that stuff on the radio
because it's a safer way to do it.
Um, you have a little bit more distance between you and the suspect vehicle.
That way the primary officer in the pursuit can just focus on driving,
um, and making sure they're doing everything safely.
[Officer Groat on radio]
[Officer Worley]
Officer Groat's behind me, calling out the pursuit as we go in.
He's doing an excellent job, keeping calm. Phenomenal job.
[Officer Worley]
[Officer Groat]
[Officer Worley] We come up to a busy intersection.
There's a female driver in a sedan.
[Officer Groat] The suspect tried to make a left-hand tu
and did not see this other vehicle.
[Officer Worley] I'm runnin up to the suspect in the driver's seat.
I'm trying to get him out
and he's fighting me as I'm trying to get him out.
And I actually mace him. I pepper sprayed him.
And he put his van in drive to take off as I was trying to pull him out.
[Officer Groat]
At this point, I'm kind of like in the van to a sense,
so, I can't exit.
And he started dragging and pulling me.
You hear it all the time on the news that,
you know, an officer is kill in the line of duty.
And, you know, I have a daughter on the way that I haven't even met yet.
She doesn't know her dad and I don't know her.
Maybe, you know, my daughte won't know her dad.
You know, she would grow up without a father.
There was a lot going through my head.
[siren wailing]
[Officer Worley] I would say it was, uh, by God
that, you know, I was able to separate myself,
and jump clear of the van,
because this man wants to get away.
He doesn't care what it takes, the suspect wants to get away.
He wants to evade the police
So, at that very moment, I just had a job to do.
To stop the threat.
[siren wailing]
It was very apparent to me that the van had taken heavy front end damage.
[officer on radio]
[Officer Worley]
His van was in bad shape.
His tire was gone.
We were shocked that he coul even continue the pursuit,
that he would even try and flee at this point
because you're not getting away, your front tir is ready to fall off.
[Edgar]
[Officer Worley] Once again I take my pepper spray and I pepper sprayed him
to disable his eyes, so, he can't see, to fight us anymore.
We want to stop it.
We want him to be safe and we want other people to be safe.
Because if he's trying to ge a gun to shoot one of us, you have no clue.
You don't know who's in that van.
[officer 2]
[Edgar]
[Officer Worley]
[Edgar]
[narrator] Edgar Lebron is on probation and is taken to jail.
The woman in the side of the vehicle, the suspect hit,
um, was able to leave the scene without any injuries.
That is a big relief to all of us.
[Officer Worley] It was suc a relief knowing that the pursuit has ended,
we got him in handcuffs, nobody's injured, nobody got killed.
Um, he's going to jail.
He's safe. We are safe.
Everybody gets to live another day, basically.
[narrator] Following a plea bargain,
Lebron is convicted of felonious assault with a dangerous weapon.
The judge sentences him to 15 months to eight years in prison.
His accomplice was never charged.
The marijuana plants they stole
had been grown legally for medical use,
and had an estimated value of $13,000.
[Officer Worley] My daughte was going to be here,
I think, I had another, like six weeks to go.
You know, I'm religious. I believe in God,
and I said, "You know what, God? Thank you.
Thank you for allowing me to see another day.
Thank you for allowing me to meet my daughter."
I'm a new dad and it's amazing.
It's-- it's the best job ever.