Ambushed
Speed,
I have been on the receiving end of gunfire, if that counts. In 1998 while on patrol my partner and I were ambushed in a part of town where the cops were not especially liked. We had reports from other officers on other shifts of shots fired in their direction but there was never any contact.
At about 0200 on a quiet commercial street that had some apartments on it, gun fire erupted from what seemed like every direction. The rear windshield was blown out. I immediately drew my sidearm, a Beretta 92FS, and was ready to return fire but we couldn't determine where it was coming from. My partner, responded to training, gunned the engine and we sped as fast we could out of the "kill zone." On patrol you are, or at least should be on a high state of alert, but obviously as we experienced you can't cover all the angles, predict a situation, or see every shooter! We were fortunate that the only losses were to the vehicle and my Streamlight 20X! At the time I think I was more mad than anything, that someone was shooting at us, but due to circumstance we couldn't return fire. I just wish that we had caught the BG's...but I'm sure they will probably get busted for something else at some point. In hindsight, I'm just glad that I lived through that experience. It has made me even more conscious of my surroundings and reminds that I can never slack off!