At 5:18 ET this morning, I received a call to my private number as a result of an email I sent to a Dallas, Texas police officer whom I first met during my visit to that city earlier this year. Given the volatility and ongoing nature of the events taking place, the call came earlier than I anticipated but was met with welcome relief.
Thankfully, he was uninjured and not directly involved in the firefights that have so-far claimed the lives of five police officers (four from Metro-Dallas, one from DART), but knew two of the victims very well. He was broken up and the conversation was difficult, a stark contrast to our early-morning meetings over coffee for the better part of a week last March.