A day in the life: APD's own SWAT team
Editor's note: This the eighth story in the Abilene Reporter News series, "A Day in the Life," in which we shadow local law enforcement, public figures and other people of note to catch a glimpse of all that they do for the community every day.
It was an overcast muggy morning in Abilene. Once off the main highway, the unmarked road leading to Abilene's police training grounds held a sign that ominously said, "Watch out for rattlesnakes!"
Abilene's SWAT team was on hand for a typical day of weekly training, which included sniper certifications and regular close rifle training.
Sgt. Colby Turnbough was due for a yearly sniper qualification that day, so he readied his gear. He proceeded to load all of his gear onto his back, including his heavy, silenced sniper rifle.
Turnbough then ran from the shooting perch and onto the dirt path. He needed to get his heart rate up to simulate the adrenaline flowing through his veins as if he was in an actual shoot-out.
When Turnbough returned to the shooting perch, he used deep breathing exercises in an attempt to calm his racing heart and steady his shot.
For this qualification, he was unable to lay down and slowly sight out his shot. He instead was told to crouch in position and fire when ready.
Turnbough loaded the bullet into the rifle and switched off the safety. He took a deep breath as he looked through his sight.
He exhaled calmly as he fired the sniper rifle. A metal "ting" rang out over the expansive field as he hit the target dead-on center from just about 300 yards away.
The smell of gunpowder hung in the air.
Turnbough had passed this round of sniper qualification shooting, but the rest of the team was ready to train new recruits in use of the close-up assault rifle.
'Chasing bad guys'
The Abilene SWAT team has 20 spaces on it, but only 16 are filled. It's not every day that a police officer is willing to give up what little free time they have for this demanding role.
Being a member of the SWAT team is not a primary duty, and the team only answers about 15-20 calls a year. However, they cover Abilene and 19 surrounding counties. They are always on call.
That means each officer on the SWAT team might not get to have a glass of wine at their anniversary dinner, and their phones can ring at just about any hour of the night.
The closest SWAT teams are in Lubbock and the Midland/Odessa area, so Abilene SWAT is always ready.
Most members of the team look like special operations soldiers. They have recently grown beards in response to the new chief, Ron Seratte, allowing beards in APD as one of his first proclamations on the job.
Each member looked tougher than the next, and the camaraderie was easy to see among them. One of the youngest members of the SWAT team is 24, and the tryouts are more difficult than any other physical fitness test APD officers have to take.
The team must complete a 6.6 mile loop through the training facility while going through 32 different obstacles. The loop also begins and ends with a rope climb.
When asked as a group why they became members of the SWAT team, they all said it was simply "chasing bad guys" that motivated them.
At the end of the day, that is all the team wants — to get the "bad guys" off the street.
'It's what I was meant to do"
Lt. Thomas Bryant has been with APD's SWAT team for almost 18 years now, and he has been on SWAT with two of his closest friends since they went through the police academy together.
Thomas said that he hadn't always dreamed of being a cop and instead was inspired by an advertisement in The Reporter-News.
Thomas had been a pharmacy technician with his second child on the way. He saw the ad, however, and decided to try out.
"It's what I was meant to do," he said.
He has been a police officer for nearly two decades and couldn't imagine doing any other job.
Abilene's SWAT team is called upon in typically dangerous situations when a suspect has barricaded themselves within a home or a search warrant is served at an alleged drug dealer's home.
In recent years, SWAT has responded to a variety of calls to include two hostage calls which both ended successfully with no hostages being injured.
'Distance is our friend'
According to Thomas, his best SWAT team members are the snipers.
The elite group of trained officers are called upon as back-up, to provide intelligence to keep the entry and perimeter teams safe, and in some circumstances to rescue a hostage through the use of force.
The average police sniper shot is only 59 yards. But Thomas said they train by taking shots from close-up to more than 800 yards away.
The sniper team has only been used a few times since 2019. In one case, officers received a call about a suicide threat.
A man had barricaded himself in his vehicle and was not cooperating with police commands. At times, he held the gun to his chest or his head.
Officers worried for the safety of the public nearby.
The standoff lasted almost six hours and ended with the sniper SWAT team using rubber bullets to gain control of the situation without causing a life-threatening injury.
"Distance is our friend," Thomas said of the use of rubber bullets in preventing injury to police officers and to the public that day.
Firefighters lend a hand
While no woman has ever tried out for Abilene's SWAT team, a handful of firefighters have. An initiative from the Abilene Police Department imbeds paramedics with the SWAT team to provide expertise in vehicle and medical situations.
Firefighter James Henson is one of these SWAT members. A member of Abilene's Fire Department, Henson attended paramedics school for two years and provides on-site medical care to the team if anyone receives an injury.
No member of SWAT has needed his services thus far.
Henson is also tapped to drive the armored vehicle the SWAT team utilizes, known as the "BearCat." Given Henson's skills driving a large fire truck, it was an easy transition for him to make to lend his time off from the Fire Department to Abilene's SWAT team.
No ordinary firefighters can offer SWAT their services, however. The team requires former military or police training to qualify.
The worn cap atop Henson's head that reads "U.S. Marines Corps" gives a nod to his qualifications.
More from this series: "A day in the life" puts readers beside first responders, others
'A thankless job'
When speaking with Abilene's SWAT team members, they were was asked whether anyone has personally thanked them for their service, similar to how Abilene's firefighters are treated after responding to a fire.
Every member of the team solemnly shook their heads and echoed the same sentiment, "It is a thankless job."
It is also physically and mentally demanding to join the SWAT team. They work round the clock with four days on and three days off.
Some members of the team even come in on their day off to complete their weekly training as they did on April 24.
They gathered around officer Cope as he led the training that day to see who was the fastest in hitting three targets in succession with an increasing number of rounds of ammunition used.
It was clear to see the winner of the day was officer Kyle Lassetter. He completed the task in about 4.7 seconds, when the rest of the team completed it in around 5-6 seconds.
But at the end of the day as the gun smoke cleared, the team cheered everyone on because Abilene's SWAT isn't just a team, they are a family pulling each other through every day on the job.
But they credit their biggest cheerleaders to be their families at home and the wives who carry the burden of their sacrifice as they must when their husbands are called to duty.
Thomas summed it all up, "It is a sacrifice, for us, for our families," but it is one they are all willing to make.
APD's SWAT team called out to a standoff UPDATED: Police standoff ends with one death, will body camera footage be released?
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This article originally appeared on Abilene Reporter-News: A day in the life: APD's own SWAT team
