Things I Never Want to Forget: Punk'd.

So, I feel like I got totally punked by the LPD just now.

OK, you know how part of my job includes listening to the police scanners? Well, around 12:45 this morning I'm sitting here working on my show and I hear someone say over their radio that someone has reported a man wearing camoflauge pants head for the mall with a handgun, and he looks like he's "in a hurry."

What?

My ears perk up at this and I resist the urge to watch the next episode of ANTM on CWtv.com so that I can pay full attention to the scanner.

Nothing...

Then just before 1:00, I hear that rare and always a slightly frightening phrase:

"Shots fired."

An officer then repeats that shots have been fired in the mall somewhere near Victoria's Secret.

WHAT!!!!!

Now I'm totally glued to the scanner. A) Who the heck would be in the mall in the middle of the night with a GUN in the first place and B) Who ELSE would be in the mall to be shot at with aforementioned gun!?!

Usually what I do when I hear something interesting like this is wait and listen for at least 30 minutes. So that's what I did. Crazy Tyra can wait; this is good stuff! I kept hearing that the subject was in different locations of the mall, but nothing else, which was kind of weird. Finally I called LPD, about an hour after the initial dispatch. The dispatch officer has that expectant tone in his voice, which is typical when there's something big going down and they know we're going to call sooner or later. So I ask about the shots being fired in the mall, and the guy just starts laughing.

"Yeah! We were wondering when you'd be calling about that!"
"Well, I usually try to wait awhile because I know when I call too soon there isn't any information available," I said. "But I hadn't heard anything in awhile so I thought I should call."
"It's a training session," said the officer.

Ohhhhhhh.

"Ohhhh wow, ok," I say, clearly thrown for a loop. "I was kind of wondering who would be in the mall with a gun in the middle of the night."
"Yeah, we couldn't believe no one was calling us to find out what was going on!" said the officer. "But we figured you guys would eventually. It's just a training, and it'll be going on all morning. And other than that, nothing's happening tonight."

Well that's good news. A.K.A. no news at all.

"Awesome, well, hope you guys have a good morning!" I hang up the phone.

Punk'd. LPD style.