eye on that yard in case someone else is that stupid.”
With the door open, four men plus Dayyan and Naseem went into the store. Using bolt cutters and the saw as needed, they cut into all the interior security locks, cables, and safes and removed the items they came for. They took all the assault weapons, including AR, AK-type, or any other military-type rifle. They took tactical 12-gauge shotguns. They also swept up all the semi-auto pistols. They gathered ammunition for the types of weapons they had taken and tactical gear such as vests, packs, chest rigs, etc. It took about twenty minutes to load up what they wanted in the four rear trucks. When the men finished, Dayyan brought back a gallon can of gasoline from his truck. He opened the can, poured it on the shelves of remaining ammunition lit a road flare, tossed it in, and returned to the truck.
The convoy formed up again and drove east. Once they cleared the Burbank downtown and found an isolated parking lot the convoy stopped and redistributed the weapons and gear. While they were sitting in the parking lot, moving things around, an old 1950s vintage flatbed truck came down the street. Dayyan signaled two men who quickly ran out and pointed their AK-47s at the front of the truck. The driver slammed on the brakes and desperately tried shifting to reverse. Before he could move backward, the first soldier was at the right-side window, shooting into the cab, killing the two men inside. Two other men jumped off the flatbed and ran.
Dayyan told his men to drag the two bodies out of the truck. The two soldiers who captured it jumped in to drive the newly gained truck and the convoy once again headed east. Their next target would be a larger gun store in Pasadena.
They were once again working their way through small streets and trying to avoid dead cars. Twice the convoy was forced to make a U-turn and go a different route. As they were getting close to the store on Arroyo Parkway, Dayyan saw a huge Pasadena Police Department armored truck cross in front of them on California Street heading west. Dayyan recognized it as a Bearcat brand. It had large letters “SWAT” on the sides.
Dayyan radioed Naseem in the Dodge crew cab behind him. “Did you see that running armored truck. I want to follow it for a bit. Let’s see what it is doing. You and the others fall back. I will follow it at a safe distance.”
Dayyan followed, staying about two blocks back. The truck had working headlamps and taillamps, making it easy to keep track of. Dayyan had shut his lights off and was navigating by the little remaining moonlight. Suddenly the big armored truck slowed and turned into a parking lot. Dayyan carefully moved closer and stopped about a block away.
Dayyan said to Adham, “Move over and take the wheel and stay alert. If something happens, take off and find the others.”
Dayyan stepped out of the truck and walked slowly up the street. When he got to the parking lot, he could see the armored truck in front of a supermarket. There was a couple dozen people in the parking lot. Dayyan at first thought the police might be trying to quell a potential riot or break in at the market. People were probably getting anxious about the situation and out looking for potential food and water sources.
As he watched, the back door of the big truck opened, and three cops got out. They were all dressed in military-type gear. One was carrying an AR-style rifle. They moved around the truck, joining another cop who climbed out of the driver’s front door. They moved to the front of the store and started talking to employees from the market.
Dayyan got on the radio again. “Naseem, bring three cars and park with Adham. Then move up to my location on foot with your guns and extra magazines. Bayas, take two trucks and circle around the back on Palmetto Street. Park and come around the west side of the store. Let me know when you are in position on the side of the building. Do not expose yourselves.”
When Naseem and four other men got up to Dayyan, they handed him a rifle, and they all moved quietly down the street using the Bank of America building for cover. The men had AR15 rifles with low-light scopes. Dayyan signaled the men to follow him, and he moved along the bank building keeping low. They used parked cars for cover. Dayyan moved to a place in the parking lot, where he had perfect visibility of the armored car and the four SWAT officers who were standing with a large group of people.
He now understood the reason the police had come to the store. Several people who looked like employees were pushing shopping carts full of stuff out of the store to the back of the truck. It was clear to Dayyan the police were gathering supplies for themselves. The cop with the AR15 rifle climbed into the back of the truck, sat down the rifle, and stepped back out. All four cops were near the rear of the truck and in clear view of Dayyan and his men.
Dayyan whispered to his men who had lined up behind two parked cars, “Target your man from left to right by the same order we are standing here. “Bayas, are you in position?”
“Yes, we just got here. I can see the armored car and the police,” Bayas answered over the radio.
Dayyan was using an earpiece and throat mic, so he did not have to worry about the radio transmission alerting anyone near the store.
“When you hear us fire, you shoot and attack,” Dayyan said into the radio, and then to his men, he said, “Ready to fire in 5-4-3-2-1…fire!”
All five men shot at once and kept shooting. Three of the four officers went down hard. Only one cop managed to take cover behind the large truck. The civilians ran in multiple directions. Dayyan kept firing at the cops on the ground. He also kept shooting at the one behind the truck. Shooting started from the west side of the store, and Dayyan could see his other soldiers pouring out from behind the building and putting the last officer in a cross fire.
“Follow me,” Dayyan now shouted, and he ran forward, shooting as he moved. His men followed. The police on the ground had all fell silent. Their ballistic vests had protected them initially, but as Dayyan’s soldiers got closer using headshots, the surprised officers had no chance. They had fought hard with only their service pistols. The man behind the truck also went down. Dayyan’s men from the corner of the building had flanked him.
Dayyan quickly checked out the truck to ensure there were not any other police hiding inside. He looked into the cab and found the keys still in the ignition. “Naseem, take this truck and drop us off at the other vehicles. The rest of you back to your cars. Quickly! Meet three blocks east just past the railroad tracks.”
Dayyan and his group jumped into the back of the armored car and sped away, leaving the four Pasadena Police officers lying in pools of their own blood. The big truck alone was a big victory. Inside, Dayyan found five assault rifles, four shotguns, and six tear gas grenade launchers, plus hundreds of rounds of ammunition. One of the men opened a large Pelican case and found four sets of generation three night vision goggles. These were a huge added score to this deadly raid.
When the now larger convoy arrived at the Pasadena gun store, Dayyan pulled the armored car up to the side door. He was stunned when the door opened and two armed men walked out approaching the truck. Dayyan guessed they had looked through a view port in the heavy door, saw the Pasadena Police truck, and assumed it was the police coming to help secure the store. The mistaken assumption would cost them their lives. Naseem jumped out the right door, and Hamden jumped out the back of the Swat truck.
Before the men from the gun store could react, bullets were flying. Both men went down with multiple gunshots to the torso and head. One managed to get several shots off from a .45-caliber carbine rifle. One of those shots hit Hamden in the chest, knocking him back several feet. After making sure the two guards were dead, Dayyan and Naseem went to the fallen soldier, who was lying on the ground clutching his chest. Dayyan looked down and said, “This is a serious wound, my brother. You may not survive.”
Hamden’s eyes met Dayyan and he said, “I should
