One of the scariest days of my life

Or as my friend likes to call it, 3/25.

A day I never thought would happen. 

A day you think only happens in the movies, but on 3/25/11 it did happen.

It happened to my friends, my kids, and me.

I have been meaning to document what happened on this day, 6 months ago, but didn't know how or where to start.  So I'll just start at the beginning. Bare with me, it will be long, with lots of detail, but as traumatic as it was, I don't want to forget it.  I am no writer and don't claim to be, I wanted to get across the emotions of that day so I tried to write a lot of detail but well, like I said, I'm not a writer. This is from my point of view from that day.  Although I do have some details from my friends because the scariest parts happened to them.

What happened you ask? 

Well, back in March, Hudson had piano every Friday at 2:30.  He takes from a lady in our old ward so I get to visit my old neighborhood and see all my old friends. Piano had just gotten over and as I was loading the kids in the car, I noticed down the street, a guy running on the grass and what looked to be cops chasing after him.  I immediately got the feeling to call my friend Laura who lived 4 houses down the street from where I was, to see if she knew what was going on.  As I was buckling Finn in his carseat and talking to Laura, the cops came driving super fast down the street and parked right next to me blocking the street behind me. I immediately started to panic, they were getting out of their cars and had guns and bullet proof vests on searching for what I now know, was a bank robber that was now on foot through my friends neighborhood. 

I told Laura they have guns and there are tons of them.

Laura and her husband were at this time on their front porch, as well as other neighbors on their porches, trying to figure out what was going on. We all immediately knew something was not right. I was so scared, here I was in the middle of the street with my kids in the car and no where to go. Laura told me to hurry and get to their house fast so I could hide out there till it was safe.  I jumped in my car and drove 4 houses down and pulled into their driveway as fast as I could!!!! 

I was still on the phone with them when I pulled in and put the car in park. I was motioning to them that I was so scared! I hung up the phone and got out of the car. I was just about to open Finn's door when I saw a man hop onto their front porch (about 5 feet in front of me to the left) and try to open their front door. My first thought was, oh its a cop telling them to stay inside, yup I know I'm naive.  But as Tyler, my friends husband closed the door, I saw that it wasn't a cop at all but "the man!" 

 He tried to open the door but Tyler had closed and locked it. As he turned around, I noticed he had a brown bag wadded up in his arms and a GUN!!! POINTED AT ME!!! 

I was terrified to say the least, I was freaking out! What was I supposed to do? I couldn't go anywhere, the street was blocked.  And why wasn't a cop trying to help me? Didn't they realize I was out of my car, 5 feet from the robber/gun man and had 3 kids in the car? 

 So, I started to get back in the car and lock it. I saw Tyler open the front door again and I was trying to motion to him that he had a gun.  I was bawling and screaming at this point,

"HE HAS A GUN, GET DOWN!" 

I said over and over to my kids, I was not handling the situation very well.

I put the car in reverse, but as I was backing out of the driveway (like a maniac mind you and driving super fast! I'm surprised I didn't hit anyone or anything)  I heard a gun shot, and screamed! It was so terrifying!! I had no where to go, and remember there were cops everywhere on this tiny block and not one of them stopped to help me! I got back to piano, 4 houses down. put the car in park and as I was bawling and screaming told my kids to get our of their carseats and get down. I then heard another 4-5 gun shots.  I was trying to reach behind me to get Finn out of his carseat, but he was in his baby carseat then and turned around so I couldn't reach him. And poor Ruby didn't know how to get our of her carseat so she was bawling.  I didn't know what to do. I just prayed to Heavenly Father that we'd all be ok. 

And again, still thinking...

Where were all the cops? 

Why wasn't anyone helping me?
I was the only van on the street and had a car full of kids and no one was helping me!!!

What am I supposed to do?

I wasn't sure what to do next, so I decided to call Melanie, the piano teacher. It went to her answering machine because she was teaching piano (she had no idea what was going on right outside her door, but I didn't know that). I left the most terrifying message ever. Her and her husband said it was quiet haunting to listen to later.

I was shaking, screaming, and bawling as I left a message to this affect,

"Melanie, this is April, answer your door! Its my kids, not the man, he has a gun. We're ok. Please let us in. There's gun shots, he has a gun!"

I finally noticed her open her door and opened the van door and told Hudson and ruby to run. My poor kids I don't think they had any idea what was going on. Ruby was screaming as well as Finn but I can't remember if Hudson was, I kind of remember him being really quiet. 

They ran for their life. As soon as they were safe inside, I hopped out and got Finn out of his car seat and ran for my life to Melanie's front door.

When we got inside Melanie had no idea what was going on. I had to explain the best I could. I was a mess. I wasn't sure if my friends were ok. 

We hid in Melanie's basement and at this point I was in shock. I was a complete mess and the whole time Melanie was so calm, actually somewhat laughing. I am grateful to her for being so calm in that moment because I was not. She was smart enough to turn on some cartoons and get the kids to focus on something else.

At that point, I decided to hurry and call Laura and Tyler to see if they were ok and to let them know I was ok.

Tyler answered the phone.

I said, "Tyler are you ok? He had a gun!"

He said in a whisper, "I know, where's Laura? Are you ok? Where's Laura?"

I said, "What? What do you mean where's Laura?"

Then the phone went dead!

WHAT? I was thinking, "what do you mean where's Laura?"

I freaked out (if it was possible to lose it more than I already had!)

I then of course thought the worst and thought the man had gotten her. 

I shouldn't have called them. 

I shouldn't have left their house. 

Did he get in the house? 

Did he take Laura? 

What about Emma and Jake? 

Their kids, where they home? Where they ok? 

OH my heck why is this happening?

I don't even live here, I was just here for 30 min for piano. 

Talk about wrong place at the wrong time!

I went upstairs to look out the window to see if I could go outside and it was at that point that I saw yellow caution/police tape going all around my friends house! 

I knew Tyler was ok I had talked to him, but what about Laura? 

Does that mean she had been taken? Shot?

(I am actually crying right now writing this, such a flood of emotions coming back. I haven't thought in this much detail about this day for a very long time. Remembering how I felt at the moment thinking one of my best friends was hurt or dead! Thankfully she was ok, I just didn't know it.)

I said another prayer pleading to Heavenly Father that Laura was ok and that we'd find her.

I decided I needed to call Trent at this point. I tried to gain some composure before calling him but the minute I heard his voice I lost it again. 

I made sure that I at least told him I was ok. But from the sound of my voice he knew I wasn't. I told him what had happened and that I needed him to come and get us, we were stuck in the neighborhood and I needed him.  He was of course so confused and so worried and didn't really understand all of what I had just told him, but he said he'd be there as soon as he could.

I then decided to call Laura's neighbor, my old neighbor friend Courtney, I happened to remember her phone number, it was one number off from my old phone.  I asked her if she knew where Laura was, (maybe Laura had gone there to hid out and Tyler didn't know). I think she thought it was weird I was calling her to see if she knew what was going on or where Laura was. She didn't even know I was there at that point. She was a bit confused but knew somewhat of what was going on, she was shocked that Tyler didn't know where she was so she said, I'll call you back, we're gonna say a prayer, and she hung up. 

A few minutes later, all the neighbors were coming out of their houses so I made sure Melanie was ok to have Hudson and Ruby play in the basement and I took Finn with me. I found a cop and asked him if my friend was ok. All he said was the homeowners are ok.  That was reassuring, but all I kept thinking was, "What the heck happened?"

It was at that moment I felt really alone.

I felt really out of place.

I just wanted Trent to be with me so bad. 

I just wanted so badly to be at my own house, safe and sound. 

I felt really alone.

I remember going around asking my old friends/neighbors what had happened and I know they all thought it was strange that I was crying and shaking. I know they were probably wondering why I was even there in the first place and why I was such a mess. I don't think they knew I was involved at all.

There were cops, medical, and tv reporters everywhere at that point and I was in no way going to be questioned or interviewed at that moment so I went to my friend Jana's house, who lives next door to Laura, to hang out until Trent came. We were all a mess.  

Crying, confused, scared!

Trent showed up about 10 minutes after I called him. I just ran to him crying. I think it was at that point he realized how scary and real the situation was. 

I knew a bit more at that point about what had happened, the gun man had entered my friends house, and that the cops had shot him, but I still just wanted to give my friends a hug and make sure they were ok.

My friend Laura finally came out of a neighbors home and I just ran to her. I was so happy to see she was ok. We just hugged each other forever and just made sure we were both ok.  I had no idea at that point what she had just witnessed. 

One of the strongest memories I have of that day was when Laura and Tyler finally got to be together. I remember her running under the police tape that was all around their house and just hugging her husband. What an amazing, brave man he was that day! I love those two! I can only imagine how great that hug must have been not knowing that your husband or wife was ok.

  

A few moments later Tyler was sitting in his driveway while medical and police were walking around, he was all alone and I felt so bad for him. He couldn't go anywhere because he was involved. 

I motioned to him if I could give him a hug.  He was shook up quiet a bit. I just hugged him over the police tape and just bawled my head off. I was so glad he was ok and yet I felt so guilty at that point that I had called and gotten them involved. I just kept saying I was so sorry! I was so sorry I called them. He was so sweet and told me that if I hadn't have called them that they wouldn't have been prepared for what happened. He was thankful I had called, I still at that point didn't think so, I felt so guilty. 

It was at that point that I had had enough. As much as I didn't want to leave my friends they were safe and I was exhausted! I was sick to my stomach too. The adrenaline and emotions had finally gotten to me and I just needed to lay down. It was now 5:30 I had been there for quite awhile remember piano started at 2:30 and got over at 3:00. 

I was questioned for a second by police, they got my information and said I would need to come down to the station to get a statement from me. 

Trent and I took our kids and went home. So grateful I had lived to see another day and so grateful that my friends were ok.

I was called only 1 hour later to come down to the police station to give my account about what happened that day. It was quite overwhelming talking about it again. I was still so shaky that I couldn't write my statement, Trent had to do it for me. I got a few things wrong, like what the man was wearing and how many gun shots I heard. Its a lot harder than you think. You never think in a situation like that, ok remember everything because your going to have to give a statement. Luckily the guy was in police custody so it wasn't as big of a deal that I didn't the color of his shirt right.

Here's what happened: Tyler said that when I called them he went outside to see what was going on.  He stepped out on the porch and saw the cops.  I pulled into the driveway and when the man jumped up on the porch Tyler pulled the door closed as the guy was trying to open the door.   Laura went to hide with Emma 5 and Jake 1 1/2 in the hall. And when the guy couldn't open the door, Tyler said the man started to get off the porch and was coming down towards me, so Tyler opened the door because he knew the guy had a gun and wanted to distract the guy back to him and away from me.  Isn't Tyler AMAZING!!

I thank Tyler that day for everything!! He truly was a hero, my hero!

Tyler said he wasn't sure what happened to me after that. All he knew was that the man was distracted and Tyler ran back inside and locked the door.  It was at that point that the first gun shot was fired by a police man from across the street. He was trying to fire at the man, not sure if it was because he had a gun pointed at me, or just because the man had a gun. The policeman missed and hit the top of Tyler and Laura's front porch. 

As Tyler got inside, he thought about getting his gun because he knew at this point the man was armed, but knew he didn't have enough time. He said he felt the spirit direct him to a baseball bat that he had hidden underneath his bed, years before. He went to get it and as soon as he came out of his room, the man was in their house!  He had come in through their backdoor!

Laura was in the hall with the kids, she said she thought about screaming but couldn't and luckily when she turned around to tell Tyler he was right there, ready and armed. Tyler hit the man with the bat and knocked the brown bag out of his and money went flying everywhere, Laura said it was just like the movies. 

The bag that I saw and that Tyler hit, was full of money he had stolen from a bank. 

Earlier that day, he had robbed a bank by gunpoint and taken the police on a high speed case through I think what was 3 or 4 counties.  He had car jacked a woman, (see how scary it was that I was driving in this 4 home radius while this man had a gun? ) He got out on foot because he had wrecked the car he stole and just happened to end up in that neighborhood.  He had no reason being there other than that's where he ended up. He was trying to find a place to hide and he did, but little did he know Tyler was ready for him!

Tyler then hit the man again and this time knocked the gun out of his hand and it flew by the back door. Tyler said the man just kept saying, "I want my piece" meaning his gun. And Tyler kept hitting him with the bat and saying, "get out of my house!"  Tyler continued to say get out of my house but the guy wouldn't, so Tyler continued to hit the man and they ended up on the floor wrestling. 

Tyler then told Laura and the kids to run.
So you can see why Tyler would ask me, "where's Laura?" He hadn't seen her since he told her to leave and he didn't know where she went.When she ran out the backdoor the police grabbed her and the kids and told took them to the neighbors house to hide.

Tyler continued to wrestled with the man and then told the man, if I let go will you leave and the man said yes, he just wanted his gun. Tyler let him go and the man ran out. Just as the man stepped onto their driveway he was shot by the police all up his side 5 times. Not only did he have the 5 gun shots in him but the man was messed up from all the hits by the bat! GO TYLER! 

That is when I called Tyler. He said he only answered it because

A: he didn't know where Laura was and thought maybe it was her calling him.
and

B: he didn't know what happened to me after I got in my car and wanted to make sure I was ok.

He said he was whispering because he was having an asthma attack and then the phone just died. How sad is that?
Tyler, Laura and their kids were phsyically ok that day. They were protected and Tyler did his job as a husband and a father. He said he just did it, he didn't even have time to think.
Tyler was so lucky that he didn't get hurt, he said he was a bit sore the next day but how lucky was he!
Their house on the other hand showed a bit of damage from that day.  They had a bullet hole above their front door, blood on their driveway and throughout the house. A dent in their fridge and ceiling from the bat, but other than that, everyone was ok.

As I think back on that day and how scary it was, my friends and I have been able to see how blessed we all were that day and all the special ways the Holy Ghost helped us.  He was there to guide, direct, and protect us as we are told. 

For one thing, it was the end of March. This neighborhood is full of kids and they are all usually outside after school playing together, but on this particular day it had snowed a bunch that morning so no one was outside.
And if the man had showed up just 30 min earlier it would've have been time for the kids to come home from school, so imagine all those kids getting off the bus. WOW!
I also remember that all my friends husbands were home that day, remember it was 3:30 in the afternoon, but for some reason all their husbands were home, what a blessing that they were.

Another way the Holy Ghost helped was when I called Laura to ask her about the guy on the street. 

I honestly remember thinking, "why am I calling Laura about a guy running in her street? What am I going to ask her?" I remember when she answered thinking she's gonna think I'm weird.  But I wasn't thinking, it was the holy ghost, I truly believe he prompted me to call to prepare the neighborhood and Tyler. Because I called, Tyler had yelled to all his neighbors to get in their houses and lock their doors.  for what he was about to do, protect his family! As horrible as it may sound, it was a blessing that man went into their house that day because Tyler was prepared, if Tyler wouldn't have stopped him who knows where he would've ended up that day and what the outcome might have been.

It was the Holy Ghost that day that prompted Tyler to get a bat that was under his bed that he'd forgotten about to protect his family. 

I am so grateful that everyone ended up ok that day. I am so grateful for my friends and their love and support and that Tyler helped protect me that day.  I am grateful that he was so brave and strong to protect his family and neighborhood.  

The man, Michael Ames was sentenced to 6 years to life for all that he did that day and he spent weeks in the ICU at the hospital. Its a sad thing to see people make poor judgements but it truly shows that if you do what is right and follow the promptings of the spirit you will be protected and blessed. I am not trying to brag or boast about me taking part in preparing Tyler or helping in anyway. I still do feel guilty for involving them but I know I did the right thing that day by following the promptings of the Holy Ghost!