“We went back to the house with a search warrant this time. The suspected child abuser was upstairs in his bedroom. His mother called up to him - that we were back to speak to him. He yelled down. It struck me that the tone of his voice was markedly different from our visit just hours ago and that the profanity he used was so disrespectful to his mother even for a bad guy.”
Listen to Officer Richard Norcross tell Ray and Pete how in a blink of the eye – he found himself trapped in a surreal fatal funnel of gunfire. How before it ended hours later, in that close-knit New Jersey neighborhood, the shooter would kill his partner Investigator John McLaughlin, and his brother, Officer John Norcross. How he himself, with five gunshot wounds, would technically die twice - and be brought back from the brink of death. Nothing would be the same, for Richard, and the many families impacted - including the neighbors whose homes were riddled with bullets.
The months he spent recovering offered ample time to think about how to move on from what would be the worst day in so many lives including his. When you search for the bad things in life you’ll find them. What is equally true is that when you search for the good – you’ll find that too. Richard Norcross chose to look for the good – the many lessons learned, the courage and dedication to duty exhibited that day by so many.
Rich would go on to share what he learned with law enforcement officers across the nation. In the nearly 25 years that have passed since that fateful day, his shared experiences have undoubtedly saved lives and it helped him heal too. May God Bless, Investigator McLaughlin, both Officers Norcross, and law enforcers everywhere. Thanks for the work that you do!