offi cer down Off-Duty Ambush: The Steve Franks Incident Deck 5. 2. Planter Porch Bush 4. Mailbox 3. Sidewalk
Flower Garden
= Offi cer #1
Offi cer Franks
Tree Planter
House
A/C 6. 1.
3. Barnes continues fi ring at Franks.
4.
Franks pulls Mrs. Franks to ground, falls, then kneels and returns fi re.
5. The Franks reach cover. 6. Barnes commits suicide. = Bystander
Mrs. Mary Franks
at Franks. Franks rushed to his wife’s side, grabbed her by the left wrist, and tried to pull her to the ground, yanking with such force that it tore the watch from her wrist. She wouldn’t budge. He had reached for her with his left hand. He now added his right, which still held the GLOCK, and squeezed so hard that it left the imprint of the gun’s magazine release in her hand. As he desperately tried to leverage Mary to the ground, one of the heavy slugs from his assailant’s .44 magnum grazed Franks’ left leg just above the knee. The bul- let caused only a minor fl esh wound that went unnoticed by Franks at the time, but its sudden impact buckled his knee. T e abrupt shift in Franks’ center of balance brought him to the ground, and he dragged Mary down along with him. Mary landed face down a few feet away from her hus-
44 The Police Marksman Mar-Apr 2015 = Offender
Offender Barnes
band, who was now on his back with the rain splashing over his face and nothing in front of his eyes but the rain-blackened sky. Franks immediately started to scramble to his knees, but then noticed that the GLOCK’s slide was mysteriously locked back and its magazine was missing. Oh shit, he thought, but there wasn’t time to worry about it now. He snatched a spare magazine from his belt and slipped it into the weapon as he came up onto both knees, released the slide, and began to return fi re. The gunman was now firing a smaller weapon, a .380 Colt Mustang. Facing each other squarely, but at a range of about 25 yards, the two blazed away until Franks’ slide locked back again, this time because the magazine was empty. Franks reloaded with his last magazine, grabbed Mary again, and tried to pull her to her feet.
Still frozen in place with her eyes locked onto the gunman, Mary refused to look at Franks. “Why’d you kill him, Earl?” she sobbed, “Why did you kill him?” T e motive for the ambush had suddenly become very clear: T e gunman was Earl Barnes. Although Franks knew all about the man, he had never met him face-to- face. Mary had recognized him right away, of course, and she was now convinced that he had killed her husband and was trying to kidnap her.
Mary wasn’t going anywhere on her own; that was obvious. Franks knew he would have to drag her to safety. He cranked off another shot or two at Barnes, who had also shot his gun empty, reloaded, and was now resuming the attack. Dragging his wife across the lawn with such force that it tore the ligaments in her wrist, Franks headed for the corner of the house oppo- site Barnes, blasting away at his assailant as he ran. Barnes stood where he was, neither
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2. Franks returns fi re. 1. Barnes initiates ambush.
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