"It captures everything, it's not biased, it doesn't put a filter on,” said Officer Coray Bell.
In October of 2014, The Nebraska City Police Department got body cameras.
“This camera doesn't know who the good guys are, or the bad guys are,” said Nebraska City Police Chief David Lacy.
On December 7th, 2014, an officer’s camera captured a moment the department will never forget.
“When you see the video it all happens very quickly,” said Chief Lacy.
For Officer Coray Bell and his former partner Andrew Kriekemier, a call they received a little after midnight on December 7th seemed routine.
“We got called to a noise disturbance at an apartment complex. It’s just a typical call, hey we’re going to come here and tell them to be quiet and we’re going to leave” said Officer Bell.
“I saw him draw his service weapon and then I drew mine,” said Officer Bell.
When the door flew open, an AR-15 was pointed directly at Officer Kriekemeier.
”Our training had kicked in, we needed to get in there and take care of the threat,” said Officer Bell.
Officers Bell and Kriekemeier had trained for this moment, but had hoped they would never be put into a shoot don't shoot situation.
“Within milliseconds it could have been totally different,” said Officer Bell.
The person holding the gun quickly dropped the assault rifle. Officers later found out that the young adults were trying to play a drunken prank on their friends.
“It's not very smart for the individuals to be playing the prank, you never know who is going to be at the door and in this case it was law enforcement,” said Officer Bell.
Nebraska City Police Chief David Lacy is proud of his officers for the decision they made.
“I’m glad these guys didn't pull the trigger and I’m glad that they got to go home and didn't have to face any repercussion about taking someone's life over a stupid prank,” said Chief Lacy.
Chief Lacy believes his officers would have been justified if they had pulled the trigger.
"That person who pointed the gun at the officer, he put a lot of people in harm’s way that night,” said Chief Lacy.
The Nebraska City body camera video is now used for training purposes. Chief Lacy hopes it help the public understand how quickly a situation can change for a police officer.
"We know what we are going to do when we get there, but we don't know what you folks are going do when you get there,” said Chief Lacy.
After a lengthy investigation and speaking to both responding officers, the Otoe County Attorney did not press charges on the individual who pointed the gun at the officer.
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