The Surprising Adventures just got even more Surprising.

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Moving to a new house is always discombobulating, this move has been much more so after a dramatic occurence during our first night here.

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Having sold our Tampa abode we must wait until the Colonel finishes up with the Military before we can move to our new rural domain. For the next two months we are living in a rental property owned by a friend to fill in the gap.

The first night we moved in after a long day at our Tampa house with the movers. We were exhausted and could not muster up much energy to unpack. The Colonel fell asleep on the couch and I decided to begin the mammoth task of opening boxes and putting things away.

While in the kitchen I heard the sounds of a commotion outside and saw red and blue flashing lights. Someone has been pulled over by the Rozzers, how entertaining I thought. The lights went off and the blinds were opened so that I could have a butcher's hook (look) as they say.

It was like watching an episode of Cops, at first. A black Mustang was up on the pavement There were police cars behind it and a cruiser in front parked on the diagonal to block off escape. While viewing this scene I was startled by the loud and distinct popping sounds of gun fire. A few shots at first followed by a barrage of bullets.

http://www.abcactionnews.com/news/local/story/Man-dead-after-deputy-involved-shooting-in-Indian/0FTJgMNZk0-MQazE7SS3ig.cspx

The story was reported by a local news station here.

View from my front yard at 7 am.

The officer in the Cruiser began to reverse madly, His door flung open and I could see him sitting inside in a desperate panic to get away from the bullets. It was truly horrifying. I literally felt terror all through me seeing this man in such a frenzied effort to save his life.

At this point I ran off screaming to the Colonel that someone was shooting at the police. By the time we got back to the window the car was parked, the door was open but no officer could be seen. I was sure he was dead or severely injured in the car and this thought made me feel sick. I crossed my fingers as one does when they see an ambulance or an accident and wished him luck.

Moments later the whole scene was flooded with police. It looked like special operations kind of guys, wearing helmets, some had shields and all had very big guns like Ak's. My small front courtyard had three policemen in it, all aiming rifles at the black Mustang.

Eventually a policeman came and knocked on the back door telling me that something had happened and that more shooting could be anticipated momentarily. We were told to move to the far side of the house and lay on the floor. After informing him that I had seen what occured I asked about my guy in the cruiser. He said that the suspect had been shot but no officers. What a relief. After hearing this I was able to drag myself away from my vantage point and go and lay on the floor.

Later another Officer knocked on our door, it was all over. He wanted details of what I had seen. We went to bed after he left, only to be woken at 3 am when he came back asking me to go down to the police station to be interviewed. So much drama with me looking so bedraggled and tired. Not pleasant at all.

The whole event lasted for hours. After black Mustang man opened fire on police they fired back, that would have been the ensuing hail of bullets heard. He may have been killed then but they were not taking chances for the next few hours by approaching the car. Eventually a big armoured type of car was bought in and went up to the Mustang. I called it the Crusher. What a hulking piece of machinery, it looked like something the military would use.

Bullet hole above the awning.

My first night in Indian shores was certainly action packed. Thankfully no police officers were harmed, no Countess's were accidentally shot and things have settled down. I would have taken more pictures but we had to leave at 7 am the next morning on around 2 hours sleep, to spend the entire day in Tampa with movers, what a chore. I was only able to get pictures as we left when it was still dark.

I am so impressed with the professionalism of the police here. Under great personal peril they behaved admirably and so bravely. To stand around for hours like they did just proves how seriously they take using their own weapons and it seems that they only fire in response to immediate threat to their lives or the lives of others. Personally, I would have emptied every magazine I had into that black mustang, a veritable wall of lead, just to make sure the shooter was not able to fire at anyone else. Harsh, but in this day and age, you have to be.