Gunshots and Confusion. What could have happened but didn't.

Have you ever imagined what you would do if you came face to face with a gunman? Well, I have and the scenario in my mind usually ended with me ducking for cover. The real-life version however was completely different. What should have been an uneventful stroll down the street turned into a chaotic, sad, and yet life affirming event.

Last Friday was to be the beginning of a celebration-filled weekend for me and I couldn't wait to get the party started. Friday night was going to be a fun, small, surprise party that I had arranged for my sister-friend and Saturday my husband and I were going to celebrate our wedding anniversary.  The clock on my dashboard read 3:05, I wasn't finished shopping for these two very special people and at this moment time was not on my side.

INTUITION. THANK GOD I LISTENED.

I live in Studio City and absolutely love shopping at the stores in my neighborhood but not the traffic. I have a tried and true way of navigating around it, by parking behind the Union Bank on Ventura Blvd the problem is solved. By parking there I can simply walk down the bank's driveway because it spits me right out onto Ventura Blvd where all the shops are located but the genius part about this lot is when leaving there is access to a little side street which then allows me to bypass all the gridlock. I was about to enter this lot and watched as not one but two cars in front of me made the right turn into this parking area and just as I was about to flick on my turning signal and follow them I had a thought that made me change course completely. Instead of my well thought out routine I decided to drive up to Ventura Blvd and park across the street from Union Bank.  Someone was watching over and protecting me because had I parked behind Union Bank I would have walked down that driveway that leads to all the Ventura shops like I've done a million times before only on this day I would have also walked passed a gunman.  It is all these decisions we make daily that create the fabric of our lives. Instead of parking behind the Union Bank I parked across the street from it and I was safer, yes, but still not out of harms way. 

Somehow I ended up at the same intersection where minutes later would be blocked off by cop cars and LAPD officers taking refuge with their guns drawn but at the time I walked towards the intersection there was no sign of what was to come. It was all a normal hot summer's day, the sun hitting my skin while unbeknownst to me there was a man sitting on the ledge of a flowerbed in front of the Union Bank with a gun shooting a round into the air and at the ground. I was just across the street from him and didn't know he was there. This man didn't make any big moves, didn't draw much attention to himself and the shots he fired never registered for me. No, I didn't hear those shots but thankfully someone else did and called the police.

OH THE HAZY MOMENTS WE REMEMBER

For me it still appeared to be business as usual and I had gifts to buy and was on a time crunch. I continued down the street maybe a few feet and recall seeing a security guard leaning on a wall with his phone out taking pictures. Did not even dawn on me to turn around to see what he was photographing I did however see the SALE sign on the door of the Papyrus store. I was so excited I remember saying "Wow, I came here on the right day."  As I walked into the store my eye quickly went to a little tchotchke and asked if it could be gift-wrapped. It was then that my eyes lifted up towards the store windows and for the first time I saw LAPD officers rushing past. Time sorta starts to both speed up and slow down from this point on.

A woman entered the store and ever so calmly informed us that there was a bank robbery in progress. I still don't know why but I immediately stepped outside and I walked towards the commotion. This was my first view of the cop cars parked in front of the Union Bank. Over head a police helicopter began hovering so low to the ground that I noticed the large shadow it cast onto the street below. I then heard two very distinct gunshots but stood frozen on the street.

RUSHING TOWARDS SAFETY

At this point I was numb but apparently I had my phone out and snapped a photo during that time and then started videotaping. How do I know this? Because I have the photos and video on my phone. Just as I started filming more LAPD showed up and rushed me and a few others inside the store for our safety.

@megan_powers2 this is us being told to get inside the Papyrus store in Ventura blvd pic.twitter.com/8MIhtucC7r

— DawnMarie Ferrara (@ThatDawnMarie) July 24, 2015

Once inside I watched as even more cops ran past the store window, these officers were running in full gear and holding rifles in their hands. While in my hand I was still holding my phone. How do I know this? Because I snapped a photo of this as well. Standing near the window I noticed a woman walking on the street and pulled her into the store. Then a man jogged past. I tried to stop him, he initially ignored me but seconds later he jogged back towards me asking if a movie was being filmed. Mind you, he asked this question all while he continued to jog in place to keep his heart rate up.  What I wanted to say was "No, this is not a movie and no Speilberg is not down the street about to yell cut" but I held my tongue. 

After the jogger left the street got eerily still. I crouched by the front window of the store trying to understand what the hell was going on. At this point we were all still going on the mis-information of a bank robbery in progress and had no idea what we'd see going past the store window next when an LAPD officer walked into the store. We were simply informed that we must evacuate the area. He did not offer any other information and strangely for a woman who was clearly on a quest for info I didn't even think to ask.  In retrospect he probably didn't want to create any undo chaos, don't think any of us would have responded calmly to the news that we were all in the middle of a bomb threat, yes, a bomb threat.  You see, right before the gunman was shot he informed the officers that he had a bomb and on top of that he had brought items with him that looked like explosive devices. LAPD had the bomb squad on the scene and hours later all suspicious packages were blown up by a robot and no explosives were found.

GETTING OUT.

I don't remember doing this but I posted one of the photos I took to my Twitter account to try to get the news out about the "Bank Robbery."  I now know that photo has the suspect in it just after he was shot.

Holy Crap! I'm in the middle of a bank robbery. Cops w machine guns. Just heard gun shots. I'm inside a store scared pic.twitter.com/9Lc2StvHhh

— DawnMarie Ferrara (@ThatDawnMarie) July 24, 2015

As I was being evacuated from the store's back entrance I could smell cordite in the air. It was an unnerving smell that will stay with me forever. Once outside I encountered other witnesses who filled me in on what had happened. This is when I learned there was no Bank Robbery. This is the first time I heard of the gunman and that he had shot a round into the air and towards the ground.  This is when I learned the gunman raised his gun at the officers after they tried to get him to put down his weapon. This is when I learned that the gunshots I heard on the street were actually from the officers and that those shots had killed the gunman. And now all I wanted to do was get the hell out of there. I walked to my car and started receiving messages from news organizations asking permission to use my video and photos on their sites and for an interview but all my thoughts were of getting back home. 

THE TIME I BECAME A TRAFFIC COP

I planned my escape and made my way to a backroad that I knew would let me out blocks away from what was fast becoming a spectacle. This backroad is a one-car lane kind of road, it's very narrow and gets blocked with the oncoming traffic of one car. Well, I was in a line of 20 cars trying to make my way down the hill while another 20 cars were trying to make their way up. All cars were at a complete standstill so I inched my car over as much as I could, got out and started directing traffic. I lead the oncoming cars out first creating a path for the row of cars going in the opposite direction. When there was a clear opening I jumped back into my car and made my way out.

As I was driving away, the scene safely in my rear view mirror I began to mull over the events of the previous hour. This is when I started piecing together my timeline and I began to grasp the reality of what I had just experienced.  I was in the middle of a dangerous situation, one that could have ended so differently but on this day it ended with me driving home, a nervous wreck, but safe. The gunman could have shot at all of us on the street last Friday, none of us had a clue how vulnerable we were - none. That thought has stayed with me. I am still in a bit of shock. All the details continue to play on a loop, spinning round and round in my mind. Walking down a busy street shopping should not equate to risking one's life but that is exactly what happened to me this past Friday. It is scary yes but also life affirming  because all the "could have's" did not happen. 

Our lives speak to us constantly, sometimes in a whisper and at other times it screams. Last Friday my life was singing an Opera for me and only today, one week later I'm beginning to think maybe, just maybe it was trying to tell me that I have more things to accomplish here. 

I did go back for that tchotchke. I ended up buying one for my sister-friend and for myself. Inscribed on it is a message that is now ever more poignant: 

"You make the world a better place just by being in it." 

GUNMAN'S IDENTITY FINALLY REVEALED

The gunman's name was Seth Raines, a 44-year-old man who had a history with the Police. He had lived in Humboldt County, Colorado, Kansas and Oregon but at the time had nowhere to call home. Trying to find out more information on him I decided to look up his Facebook page. The photos he had posted told the very sad story of a man who was slowly becoming unhinged.  Many photos of dead bodies, guns, blood, crime scenes and a telling photo of candles with graphics that twisted and turned the smoke from the wicks to spell out RIP.

SOCIETIES LESSON 

My experience on Friday seems like an anomaly because other similar scenario's ended in mass deaths. My experience ended with the death of a man, Seth Raines, who wanted to commit suicide by police. Only by the grace of God no one else was hurt. 

All these senseless killings are the result of guns ending up in the wrong hands. The Charleston Church shooter obtained his gun legally. The movie theater shooter in Lafayette obtained his gun legally. Sandy Hook. The list goes on and on. How many gun-related deaths will it take until there is some real gun law reform in this country. I'm not saying we must ban guns I'm just advocating a need for reform on a Federal level.