As I made my way to the front door, I saw the sheer curtain in the door glass move and could make out the dark silhouette of a face at the window. I froze. Has he seen me? Maybe I should wait for backup and surround the house? What if the lady doesn’t have time to wait and is counting on me?

There comes a point when your instincts take over. It’s not really a calculated thing or even something you can rationalize later, but you just know as you know what is the right thing to do. I decided to continue to the door and see what unfolds.

As I placed my boot on the front door step, the door opened at the same time as I raised my full length Maglite to defend myself against the attacker. I was ready and prepared to strike out with my full force and ask any questions later. Better him than me after all.

As I raised my metal flashlight I was met by the wizened, pale face of the homeowner, who gasped as she saw my hand held up ready to strike.

“It’s okay, it’s okay. It’s the police,” I immediately said in an effort to calm her down and stop her from screaming which I knew would, in turn, scare the intruder.

Her frightened, crackled voice croaked out to me, “He’s still here. He’s in the living room. I’m so scared!”

“It’s okay ma’am. I’ll take care of it from here. Please stay by the front door and don’t move. Okay?” She merely nodded her reply and shrunk back against the hallway wall as she pointed at the door of the living room.

I waited for a few seconds as I gathered my thoughts, listening for any sounds from behind the closed door.

“Is there any other door out of that room?” I asked her. She shook her head in reply.

So now we were at the moment of truth. Even now I can recall the things that went through my head. I found myself mentally rehearsing my Ju-Jitsu moves from training school so that I was ready to grapple with the man behind the door. Then there was the image of my new bride that flashed before my eyes. Less than six months married and so much life ahead of us. My parents were next albeit just for a fleeting moment and then an image of myself in a hospital bed in a coma. I tell you, the mind can play some games on you at times like these. Police officers are still human beings, sworn to serve and protect, but still humans with loves and lives.

One deep intake of breath and I gently turned the door handle and slowly opened the door. I don’t really know what I expected to see when I entered the room but it was not what greeted my eyes on that June evening. I took a step inside the living room to give me clear vision of the whole room and was speechless at the sight in front of me. For a moment I was completely frozen, absolutely unsure of my next step. A 3-second count passed and I turned and looked at the old, fragile lady still huddled by the front door.