Ray Normandin

On Friday, April 13th, 2001, my life changed forever. It was a normal day; however it was ironic that it was ‘Good Friday’ as well as ‘Friday the 13th’”. The following is a true account of that horrific day. ”

Ray

Am I going to die today? That was the thought running through my mind, it kept repeating like an old skipping 45 record, over and over again. The Uzi semi-automatic machine gun was three feet away and pointed at my head. The clip was hanging there as if to say, “I’m holding the key to your living or dying”. Your mind goes through strange thoughts whenever you are in a situation of extreme duress. Looking at the Uzi, I couldn’t help wondering if it was loaded or not. I could only assume it was.

With my hands in the air, at the assailant’s request, I was thinking, “Can this really be happening, is this guy for real?” I am in the middle of a real life bank robbery. At that moment, I wished that I, along with everyone in the bank were invisible.

The gunman jumped over the counter and approached all the tellers; he was shouting vulgarities at every one of them. He made it clear in no uncertain terms that if anyone tried anything stupid, he would shoot them dead. He kept shouting, “Where is the manager? Who has the key to the vault?” At one point he threatened to kick a teller in the head if she did not open the vault. I heard some of the bank personnel saying things back to him. I was in such shock; I can’t recall much of anything what was said.

The Expression “Your life flashes before your eyes” is an accurate description of what occurs in this type of a situation, at least it did for me. I thought, “My time has come, I will never see my family or friends again”. The strangest things popped up in my mind, like the bills you owe, the TV shows you like, the dental appointment you are going to miss. These thoughts were real, I know it sounds crazy, but my mind went through the most amazing scenarios.

At the assailant’s command, I got on my knees along with most everyone else. I noticed that an older gentleman in front of me and a younger man in his 20’s didn’t get down, I thought, “how strange it was that the gunman was not really paying that much attention to us. I choose to lie on my stomach, I felt that if I was out of sight and out of mind, I might have time to think of how to get the hell out of this mess. Lying there, I started to create strategies on how to get the hell out of the bank for help. Something inside of me, an inner strength if you will, took over. I looked up to see where the gunman was, from his voice I could sort of tell. At one point I took a chance by poking my head up. Fortunately he was looking away from me. He briefly glanced back in my direction, but he did not see me. I looked again and could see him, he had his back to the vault and he was still pointing the gun towards us, yelling, “Don’t do anything “stupid.”

The window of opportunity finally arrived when I saw him look over his shoulder into the vault. I knew I had mere seconds to act, so I got up from the floor into a crouching position and bolted 30 feet to the exit doors. I just shoved the glass doors open and took flight across the parking lot, nearly tripping over the cub. I had never run so fast in my entire life. I bolted in the door of a nearby sporting good store, grabbed the nearest phone and called 911.

With-in minutes the police had arrived, just as the assailant carjacked a pick-up truck with a 21 year old male in the driver’s seat. My personal car was parked next to the truck and I thought for sure he was going to car jack my wife who was sitting in the car waiting for me. I believe the only reason he passed by her and went to the truck was because my wife was in the passenger seat and the young man in the truck was in the driver’s seat.

As they left the parking lot, I was still on the phone with Police. I could see the whole thing from the sporting goods store window. I was able to get a description of the truck and get the license plate number. It just so happened that the young man in the truck, was the grandson of the bank manager…go figure.

The police arrived just as the gunman and the carjacked vehicle were leaving the bank parking lot. I told the police dispatcher what was happening and which way they were going. I heard her relay the message to a arriving police officer pulling up in front of the bank at that very moment. The assailant was able to get out of the parking lot, but not without the police right on his tail. A brief chase ensued and he jumped out of the hijacked truck, leaving the young man unharmed. He bolted from the truck and ran into a nearby apartment complex. He entered an apartment where he started a diversion, by putting two mattresses up to the window and setting them on fire. He thought he would be able to escape unnoticed but when he tried to leave the apartment, the police were already in the hallway. He was trapped with nowhere to run, so he did what he thought was best, crawl out of the apartment window. The fire he started as a diversion, created so much smoke that he had no choice but to jump out the window. When he leaps from the window into the alley the over a dozen police officers were waiting for him, guns drawn. A gun battle followed in which over one hundred rounds were spent. Eventually the suspect was wounded at the scene, and later the local news reported that he died at the hospital of one of over a dozen bullet wounds.

Later after being interviewed by the FBI, I was told that the gunman was desperate. He was out on bail for attempted murder and that morning he told his pregnant girlfriend that he was going to get them money to set things right. He also told her no matter what, there was no way that he will ever go back to jail. The Police and the FBI suggested that he was desperate and if I had not left the bank the way I did…It could have been a hostage situation and been a deadly event for everyone…including me. The investigator told me that the man felt rushed and wanted to get out as soon as he realized that I had left. In retrospect, I realized that my Martial Arts training had come into play that day. What I did was not heroic…I wondered if perhaps it was not a good idea to do what I did…But I was told that it was risky, but a good thing. The FBI agent later told me I might have saved the lives of everyone in the bank. Fleeing the way I did, gave him less time and he had no choice but to leave sooner. I am just grateful to have been able to keep my head and not react irrationally. My first thought was…I am a martial artist, but I am not Chuck Norris or Bruce Lee and this is not a movie or a television show. However, my martial arts training also taught me to think and react with my intellect not just my fist and feet. I was taught the three “A’s” of martial arts. Avoidance, Awareness and Action, That day all three came into play. Last , but certainly most important, I want to Thank my Savior Jesus Christ and my Heavenly Father for sitting on my shoulder that Good Friday morning.