Back in November of 2021, citizens in the downtown area of Dallas, Texas called the Police Department’s 9-1-1 Center and reported a suspicious briefcase next to a trash can in Dealey Plaza. The call set in motion a predictable series of events: a patrol unit response to establish a perimeter (isolating the area and protecting the public) and the Dallas P.D.’s Bomb Squad was dispatched.

Our 35 second video picks up with an approach to the briefcase by a Public Safety Bomb Technician dressed in a bomb suit, carrying an x-ray source in his right hand and an x-ray panel in his left. The plan, I would suspect, is to get a look at the contents of the briefcase (utilizing the x-ray equipment) and establish if the briefcase was indeed a hazard. The Tech doesn’t get that far. Before setting the panel and source, the Tech stops (perhaps seeing something he doesn’t like), quickly reverses course, and withdraws from the area, face to the briefcase, walking backwards.

Here’s where things go sideways…and I’m not talking about the tech going “ass over tea kettle” into the water fountain. While that event alone is awkwardly humorous (and I am sure that plenty of beer was paid to the Squad by the unfortunate Tech who took the plunge), it isn’t the action that is driving a “look back” at this incident.

Where did the fella who enters from the top of the video frame around the 27 second mark in the video come from? This Officer passes within eight feet of a potential explosive device, completely unprotected, to check on the Tech who had obviously recovered from his unexpected swim, found himself a nice cozy spot to square himself away, and return to business. It appears that the unprotected officer risked a lot, to include the safety of the Tech, for very little gain.

Someone once told me: “Excited people don’t think and thinking people don’t get excited.” Hummm…

Side Note: Some of our history savvy readers may recognize Dealey Plaza as it is a memorial placed on the site of JFK’s assassination in 1963.

This post was written by the Funker530 resident bomb technician who wishes to remain anonymous. If you guys want to hear more from him, let us know.