Officer Joseph Gray’s firsthand account of dealing with trauma and the steps he took to find healthier coping mechanisms.
I remember it being around four in the morning. I was training a recruit on third shift when a call came in about a female screaming in the middle of Spring Street. The recruit was driving, and when we made the left turn from Adams Street, I saw the woman frantically pacing and screaming in the road. We parked, and she recognized me when we got out. She pointed to the house, yelling, “They got him, Gray, they got him.” Sobbing, she fell to her knees in the street.
I told my recruit to stay with her, and I approached the rear of the house slowly, “slicing the pie” around the corner. I could see a lifeless body on the ground, six to eight feet from the house. Light poured from the open back door of the residence, which a couple of slightly crooked steps led up to. I continued toward the door, keeping as close to the house as possible, and heard more screaming coming from inside.
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