A disabled man in Broward County, Florida, found himself in a life-threatening situation last month while sheriff’s deputies waited not far away and refused to intervene.
Bill Norkunas was awoken in the middle of the night to a man beating on his door and smashing his front windows with a brick. Norkunas, who suffers from polio and needs crutches to get around, grabbed his Glock handgun and called 911, but deputies refused to apprehend the man even after arriving on the scene. Dispatchers told Norkunas that deputies were “setting up a perimeter.”
“He started kicking the door, so I took the handgun I have … and I pointed it right at his face,” Norkunas told NBC 6. “And he looked right at it. He reached down and picked up a brick and he started smashing the door in.”
“All the while, I’ve got 911 on my cell phone, and I’m looking down the road, and no deputies. Nobody came.”
Norkunas’ experience left him with one simple piece of advice: “Don’t depend on 911. Have a backup plan.”
SEE ALSO: Armed Robber Fatally Shot in Neck By Concealed Carrier
As the man stood naked and on crutches, pointing a gun towards the man beating in his front door, he pleaded with dispatchers to send help.
“I’ve got crutches and a handgun and a crazy man trying to get inside to kill me,” Norkunas said. “And I kept pleading, please, send the sheriff’s deputies, and not one sheriff’s deputy came down that street.”
Some of Norkunas’ neighbors also called 911, and they were given the same message.
“I’ve been on the phone with you for six minutes,” next-door neighbor Kim Ehly is heard saying in a 911 call. “This guy could’ve been in my house and (expletive) hurt me by now.”
“Supposedly they were setting up a perimeter, and the thing that I was saying was, while you all are setting up a perimeter, we could be injured by this guy,” Ehly said.
SEE ALSO: Five Multiple-Intruder Home Invasions in Four Days Prove Need for Standard Capacity Mags
The Broward County Sheriff’s Office issued a milquetoast statement about the incident promising a “thorough review.”
“Within days of the incident in Tamarac, the Broward Sheriff’s Office began a thorough review into how the deputies on scene handled the response to this fluid and rapidly evolving situation,” the statement read. “The review into this incident is ongoing. The Broward Sheriff’s Office responds to tens of thousands of calls for service each year. The vast majority of these calls are handled appropriately with satisfactory outcomes. BSO constantly reviews and assesses its responses to emergency calls in order to provide the highest level of service to the public.”
Norkunas never fired his pistol, and the suspect, 23-year-old Timothy Johnson, left the premises before harming any residents. He was arrested by police when he walked down the street.
The experience left Norkunas with a badly shaken confidence in his local law enforcement.
“This was life-threatening,” Norkunas said. “And if the sheriff is not gonna come when it’s life-threatening, when will they come?”
I had a related incident 2 years ago where 4 ex-cons from south central L.A. gang tried to do a home invasion while my partially disabled mother was home. I was already on the phone with a deputy about 1 minute before the incident occurred. This is a very peaceful area and sheriff station is about 10 minutes away. I actually told the deputy on the phone I was grabbing my shotgun when 3 guys suddenly opened the high-end car’s doors and ran up the driveway. I knew the one with bright green gloves was about to jump a gate and make it to the backyard. I was already pointing my shotgun at the rear doors, ready to fire had he broken in. No need to do that though. That POSs left faster than they came. Meanwhile, the first sheriff arrived 15 minutes later! That experience taught me that I’m my own defender. I can’t depend on anyone else. And I also got self-defense insurance a day later. I have no fear of stopping any threat.
As a member of the BSO I can tell you first hand that this is EXACTLY what I sheriff requires. He’s a black sheriff who was appointed after our former clown was removed because of many effed up incidents including the parkland incident. Our sheriff, who shot and killed a rival gang member when he was a youth in Philadelphia, as well as being investigated for bad checks written while in college at FSU and lying about drug use and said murder on his police application with another city in broward has knelt with the BLM and said the system is racist. We also just elected a state attorney who has never prosecuted a murder trial and was elected solely because he was BLM and said the system was racist and he as well is a democrat in a democrat county.
The sheriff was quoted on this exact incident and said his deputies did the right thing and de escalated the situation. He said the last thing the county needs is his citizens in danger because another in armed black man was killed by the police. That was a direct quote. That is what we are working with. If you are proactive and arrest black people, you get the bad shifts and days off. This place sucks.
I commend you for sticking with your job under the horrible conditions that have been placed upon you by your sheriff. It’s a shame that you and your fellow deputies are unable to stand up against his insane rules that put the public in danger without being reprimanded for it.
If there is any way you or others could record him saying anything that proves he is punishing you or any other deputy for doing their job and stopping crime using a body cam could help to remove him from his position as he does not deserve to be in it especially with his past criminal record. Hopefully, you will be able to bring these problems to the light so the people of Broward County can finally start to trust the department again.
The Cowards of Broward County strike again (or don’t). Don’t waste your time calling for a cop in Broward County. All they do is hide until the danger is past, just like they did during the Parkland school shooting.
You know, once upon a time, in the not very distant past, you had to commit a crime BEFORE they took your guns! Now, any a-hole with a grudge against you, can call the Po Po, and file a complaint, legitimate or not, resulting in the loss of your firearm collection! Red Flag Laws are UNCONSTITUTIONAL, not that the Liberal Progressive Socialist Democrats care about the Constitution…
Sorry, what part of your rant has anything to do with this article?
I just want to know where he got his door. That thing took one hell of a beating and is still in place.
There is no doubt in my mind that the police response here is a direct result of the prosecution of police around the nation who acted within the law and within their policies, yet were criminally prosecuted or disciplined by their agency for uses of force. People will have to come to the realization that they are their best, and sometimes only, first responder in critical incidents. It is sad to see this decline in police services, but this is the new reality.
Those must have been the same group who stood outside of the Margery Stoneman High School Massacre.
When seconds count, police are only minutes away…………or a half-hour………………or an hour.
A 9mm bullet travels faster than a police car.
Where’s Crocket and Tubbs when you need them?
All I can say is this man is a fool for wasting all that time on the phone. He is protected under the “Castle doctrine” law in Florida. He should have shot that asswipe and killed him and he would have been a hero! As for the sheriffs, this is why I do not support the blue. They only do as they are told which mostly consists of harassing and fining the general population for unconstitutional laws created by the state and local governments to generate REVENUE!!!!
Exactly my thoughts.
Maybe someone can clear this up for me, I having a little trouble wrapping my head around it. The homeowner has a gun that he’s apparently afraid to use, even though some asshole is trying to bash his door down? Isn’t this the intent of the castle doctrine?
Or is this one of those cases where someone goes out and buys a gun because it gives them a warm, fuzzy feeling inside but has absolutely no intent to actually learn how to use it?
The homeowner stated – “Don’t depend on 911. Have a backup plan.” Well he DID have a backup plan. It was the Glock in his hand. Hopefully once this jackass gets out of jail in a day or two he doesn’t go back and finish the job. Just saying …
I don’t know how the law reads in Florida, but here in Georgia, in a case like this, the perpetrator actually has to cross the threshold of your door before you are legally in the clear to use deadly force.
Then drag his dead ass over the threshhold!
So your answer is to shoot through the door? You sound a bit skittish.
Skittish it says!!!
This is the same Sheriff’s Office that refused to engage the student shooter at the high school in Parkland, FL that gained such notoriety a couple of years back. The Governor and the top state LE Agency need to investigate the Sheriff and his policies for ‘Rules of Engagement’.
In Parkland they used the same excuse of, “setting up a perimeter”.
Their well deserved name here is, Broward’s Cowards.
Yes the Margery Stoneman High School Massacre.
If you say, “He’s dead,” and then hang up and refuse to answer the phone for more details, they will likely be all over you in seconds. I would not say I had shot him unless I had. Saying, “He’s dead,” could have many meanings and entails plausible deniability.
Damn good idea. Once there they got to deal with tthe situation.
Same thing here in Dallas. I had copper thieves ripping up the place, called the cops and about 20 minutes later they showed up, after he was gone. The next time he was there I called and said “burglary in progress, shots fired” and hung up. Within minutes there were 3 cars and a chopper circling… this time he was caught. Sometimes that’s what it takes to break through the malaise. Respond better and people don’t have to lie.
If police aren’t doing their jobs, then the structure of the job has to change. I don’t believe in defunding the police but cops should have proper training along with abilities that exemplify that they are capable of doing the job. First, they should meet a psychological evaluation, which would determine an awareness of what is entailed and expected of anyone wanting to be an officer. Next, there would be an intense physical ability requirement with testing and training. Minimum height 5’10” and minimum weight 160 lbs. with a maximum weight as per individual height. Finally, all officers would be in ongoing training of martial arts, which would assure that they stay in shape and are capable of handling confrontations without the need for stun guns. To acquire individuals of this caliber, you would need to promote the job differently and regain respect for those willing to take it on. You would need to up the pay scale accordingly. I’m sure that no one will ever put me in the position of implementing these changes but I would be ready, willing and able if a position opened up.
Most of those requirements are already in place. The problem is when cops act, even properly when using force, the admin fries them and will not back their play. They pander to political groups to save their own ass.
Cops are often prosecuted on a few seconds of crappy cell phone video rather than a fair investigation. Look at the St.Paul cop in MN who was fired within 72 hours based on a shaky body cam video. No due process. Cops do not want to engage because they will be fired, sued, and indicted. They are screwed either way.
BULLSHIIT!!! Cops refuse to act because they are told not to and they (the cops) obey their orders whether they are lawful or not! You are correct that it is all about keeping their job and has nothing to do with serving or protecting the public!
Wrong. Cops have Unions, there is due process.
Police have NO constitutional duty to protect anyone… who is not already in custody.
Police no longer want to do their job for fear of losing their job.
Do we now see the dilemma our judicial system has put us in?
Police have been relegated to being Mall Cops because of out of
control judicial system from the federal to the local level.
By the way, this burglar wanted to insight another race riot, a black man
being shot by white cops or white person.
It is abundantly clear that LE has chosen to check out during The Great Reset and by so doing they are (intentionally, I think) contributing heavily to that process. Coupled with widespread civil unrest and indiscriminate suspension of basic rights by politicians who don’t abide by their own tyrannical rules, we are beginning to look like an unstable society.
When government breaks the law or refuses to enforce it, then there is no law. Only a struggle for survival.
Civil War anyone???
Just like the saying goes…when seconds count the police are minutes away…or may not be coming at all!
They may have heard the suspect was of a dark color orientation and didn’t want to deal with all of the BS around that in this crazy frickin’ time we now live in.
You spelled Coward County wrong.
The intruder was black. He is protected by a socialist Democrat double standard!
(communist demoRAT?)
The home owner should have shot this guy in the face and gone back to bed
It’s been my experience as a LEO that the peace officer goes to the problem, not waits down the road to catch the perp walking down the road after everything is over. Has something changed in police practices?
They’ll come to arrest You after You shoot the criminal.
They do what most police departments do. They investigate crime. They don’t know how to prevent it.
Cowards should never be police! This should be the criteria for police officer candidates
1. Have been in the military and been in combat (if such candidate available) if not then:
2. Been in the marines (if such candidate available) if not then:
3. Deployed in any ground force.
4 Others if any of the above are not available, but a psycological test to eliminate cowards.
It’s “milquetoast”, not “milk toast”. Does GA have any editors?
That’s all you got out of this highly disturbing article? Do you have any common sense??
My guess is it has something to do with the intruder’s race. In light of the recent events involving cops and black criminals, the cops are in a dammed-if-you-do-dammed-if-you-don’t situation.
As soon as this ahole smashed the window with a brick I would have shot him. Period! End of story. I would have then called the sheriff to please come and get this dead body out of here!
Same old story of the cowardly Broward County Sheriff dept. Remember the Parkland disaster?
Parkland was something else altogether. Parkland was a movie set, with paid multiple deep state shooters, a scripted propaganda stunt. If the cops stood down it was because they were ordered to do so.
Ever watch the clown show that is BCSO when they were featured on COPS? Made me embarrassed to be an LEO !
This is the same yahoo sheriff’s dept that watched while the kids at Parkland were murdered. Set up a perimeter??? 6 minutes? What’s the point of having a police force if they are not going to do anything? Just wondering.
They were either practicing for another school shooting, or trying to see how far they could push the “I was in fear for my safety” excuse.
Bet they would have been there in a hart beat if Mr. Norkunas had shot the dirt bag .
You have to wonder if the cops on scene where just plain cowards, or the idiot Sherriff has some idiotic policy that involves BLACK offenders. With all the bs involving BLM terrorist the cops are pissing their pants any time a violent incident involving a BLACK perp happens.
Almost same situation I had here at my house MULTIPLE times! Fact is they WANT US TO BLOW AWAY SOME TWEEKER so the threat is good and DEAD for them to not get hurt by! And now with Biden almost in office who’s said he’s taking our AR\AK and basically ANY gun that has ten measly rounds and even less in some places in say eat it Biden since its easy to say HE doesn’t need guns as he’s SURROUNDED by guys with the EXACT guns he’s going to ban! HYPOCRITICAL MUUUCH…. IS DAY HELL YEAH!!!!! NOOOOONE of MY guns will EVER be taken and I WILL STILL CARRY MY GLOCKS that hold 15 plus one or 17 plus one and that’s just with standard mags as I have 30 round 10mm stock mags, 9 and .40 31 and 33 stick mags as well as 50 round drums for both that I WILL ALWAYS carry at LEAST two regular 15round 10mm mags as back ups AND of course another full mag in the gun and one round in the tube! And that’s just what I carry on my person at ALL times of not an EXTRA back up G22 which I’ll as well have TWO EXTRA 15 round mags plus the one in the gun and one in the pipe! Green let me make it to my truck and there I’ll have a multitude of HIGH POWER AR’s ranging from standard 5.56 all the way up to a real nice perfect size truck gun chambered in 458 SOCOM that’ll go right through ANY car door or glass! And reason why is because I’m reality cops are COWARDS which has been PROVEN MULTIPLE TIMES AT MY OWN HOUSE AND HERE IN THIS POST! F THE POLICE! Serve and protect…. Themselves!
This is the same department that told there deputies not to enter a school while children were being shot.
This is the first thing I thought as well. Also – there’s more media backlash against shooting a crazy black person than letting a minority kill whitey..
And some fools STILL ask, “WHY” we have the 2nd Amendment?? Because our Founding Fathers were SMARTER than too many Sheeple alive today!!! We see in this incident the “RED FLAG”, signaling the impending END of Civilization!
Broward’s Cowards doing more fine work…..SMH