Episode 35

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Published on:

16th Dec 2025

He Survived a Shotgun Ambush Then the System Failed Him - Part 1

In August 1987, Riverside, Illinois Police Officer Tom Weitzel stepped out of his squad car to check a suspicious vehicle parked on the wrong side of the street - no plates, dark tinted windows, door cracked open. Seconds later, a gang member rolled out of the back seat, racked a pump shotgun, and shot Tom at point-blank range.

Tom’s portable radio was cut in half by the blast. He crawled back to his squad, called for help on the in-car radio, and survived... largely because of a bullet-resistant vest his wife had purchased.

But what happened after the shooting would shape the rest of his career: the investigation, the shocking legal loopholes of the time, and the early signs of a system that often fails the very people it asks to run toward danger.

This is Part 1 of Tom Weitzel’s story. Part 2 picks up with the fight for justice and the advocacy Tom took all the way to state lawmakers.

👍 If you support law enforcement stories told with honesty and context, like, subscribe, and share.

🔔 Turn on notifications so you don’t miss Part 2: “Fighting for Justice.”

Transcript
RADIO:

Check on a car sitting on the wrong side of the street's, dark.

RADIO:

Got one door is open, the vehicle has no plate.

RADIO:

It looks like a beater, four door, green LTD. I don't see anybody in,

RADIO:

but it's got those darkened windows

Tom Weitzel:

and I just came upon a car that was illegally parked

Tom Weitzel:

gate, it was car, left wheeled the curb, no license plates.

Tom Weitzel:

So I got out of the car to go get the VIN number off the front of the

Tom Weitzel:

car and see if I could find out who the car was registered to, and as

Tom Weitzel:

soon as I stepped out of my vehicle.

RADIO:

10-4.

RADIO:

North River says you have a unit I have a unit over there,

RADIO:

Northgate Court in Northgate,

Tom Weitzel:

and started to walk towards the, the other vehicle, the back door

Tom Weitzel:

of that car opened up on the driver's side, which was towards the curb.

Tom Weitzel:

And, uh, somebody literally rolled out of it almost like a military roll, and

Tom Weitzel:

I immediately heard the slide of the shotgun and I was shot, immediately

Tom Weitzel:

shot, and it lifted me off the ground

RADIO:

(inaudible).

Tom Weitzel:

So I tried to call for help, but my radio had been

Tom Weitzel:

cut in half by the shotgun blast.

RADIO:

Where that's off (inaudible) officer been shot,

Tom Weitzel:

so I had to crawl back to my squad car.

Tom Weitzel:

Use the in-car radio to call for help.

RADIO:

10-4 no riverside near arms has been shot at.

RADIO:

Six 13 in road from 26th first,

Tom Weitzel:

and I truly believe that they, if they thought they killed me

RADIO:

in the 10-4, November said you had 10-4.

RADIO:

13. 10-4. Six 15.

RADIO:

River Ambulance here right away.

RADIO:

River said you want mine.

RADIO:

Why is proceed with your quick driver side?

RADIO:

They're code, sir. Lord.

RADIO:

10-4. What's the vehicle?

RADIO:

That description, A green or gray four door got dark windows.

RADIO:

No plates.

RADIO:

There's at least three male white

Dennis Collins:

Tom.

Dennis Collins:

Uh, like so many of the heroes that we have on this podcast, uh,

Dennis Collins:

we welcome you and it's always a story that the hero didn't expect.

Dennis Collins:

You know, it's not guns a blazing and it's not, uh, sirens and chases and all that,

Dennis Collins:

that sometimes define the heroes that appear on, on Heroes Behind the Badge.

Dennis Collins:

It's not a dramatic incident.

Dennis Collins:

It's something that showed up without warning, kind of as part of a normal day.

Dennis Collins:

Every hero has that moment.

Dennis Collins:

You had that moment that showed up without warning, that moment that

Dennis Collins:

reshapes your career, reshapes your life.

Dennis Collins:

And from that story, from that moment, everything else flows.

Dennis Collins:

And yours is that great hero story that that one day in August of

Dennis Collins:

1987 in Riverside, Illinois, on a quiet summer night, things changed.

Dennis Collins:

And from that.

Dennis Collins:

Your life changed and a lot of interesting things have happened.

Dennis Collins:

Our audience loves to hear stories like this, so we'd love you, Tom Weitzel to

Dennis Collins:

step forward, uh, law enforcement veteran.

Dennis Collins:

Riverside, Illinois Police Department, 13 years as the chief of said department,

Dennis Collins:

and, uh, uh, a life of service.

Dennis Collins:

I, I'll let you tell.

Dennis Collins:

I don't wanna take your story 'cause it's a great story and I want you to tell it.

Dennis Collins:

So welcome to Heroes Behind the Badge.

Tom Weitzel:

Well, thank you for having me.

Tom Weitzel:

Honored to be here.

Tom Weitzel:

And, you know, I never considered myself a hero and what you were

Tom Weitzel:

alluding to was I was shot in the line of duty and, uh 1987, uh, in August

Tom Weitzel:

and Riverside is a small community of 9,000 west of the city, Chicago.

Tom Weitzel:

And not that we didn't see crime, but we didn't have really

Tom Weitzel:

street crime, so to speak of.

Tom Weitzel:

And my incident took place, uh, at three o'clock in the morning.

Tom Weitzel:

I was on patrol.

Tom Weitzel:

We had say we always had one man patrol cars.

Tom Weitzel:

There was no such things in the suburbs as two men and I just came

Tom Weitzel:

upon a car that was illegally parked.

Tom Weitzel:

It was parked, left wheel, the curb, no license plates.

Tom Weitzel:

So I got out of the car to go get the VIN number off the front of the

Tom Weitzel:

car and see if I could find out who the car was registered to, and as

Tom Weitzel:

soon as I stepped out of my vehicle.

Tom Weitzel:

Started to walk towards the, the other vehicle, the back door of

Tom Weitzel:

that car opened up on the driver's side, which was towards the curb.

Tom Weitzel:

And uh, somebody literally rolled out of it almost like a military roll.

Tom Weitzel:

And I immediately heard the slide of the shotgun.

Tom Weitzel:

So it was a pump shotgun.

Tom Weitzel:

And you know, if you've heard that rack, you know what it is.

Tom Weitzel:

And I was shot immediately.

Tom Weitzel:

Shot.

Tom Weitzel:

And.

Tom Weitzel:

It lifted me off the ground and it forced me back and I hit my head

Tom Weitzel:

on the bumper of the squad car.

Tom Weitzel:

Knocked me out probably for a minute, minute and a half.

Tom Weitzel:

When I regained consciousness, the car was, doors were all open, the

Tom Weitzel:

offenders were coming from the yard, jumping into the car and fleeing.

Tom Weitzel:

I looked down to see if I should return fire and the car was going.

Tom Weitzel:

So if I was to return fire, I probably would've just been shooting it randomly

Tom Weitzel:

in the middle of the night and probably would've hit homes instead of anybody.

Tom Weitzel:

So I tried to call for help, but my radio had been cut in half by the

Tom Weitzel:

shotgun blast, so my portable radio, I went over to look at it and the

Tom Weitzel:

antenna was completely shattered and the microphone was completely shattered,

Tom Weitzel:

so I had to crawl back to my squad car.

Tom Weitzel:

Use the in-car radio to call for help.

Tom Weitzel:

And I truly believe that day that they thought they killed me or I was gonna

Tom Weitzel:

die because they could've easily come back after I knocked, was knocked out

Tom Weitzel:

and just pumped another round into me and I for sure would've been dead.

Tom Weitzel:

I think one of the things that I really helped me in that situation

Tom Weitzel:

medically was there was birdshot.

Tom Weitzel:

So what happened is most of my bulletproof vests took it, but I had,

Tom Weitzel:

uh, some eye injuries from the pellets.

Tom Weitzel:

I had broken ribs, I had broken blood vessels, and I had some stomach issues

Tom Weitzel:

that were reel result of the trauma.

Tom Weitzel:

So I actually was in the hospital for three days afterwards,

Tom Weitzel:

uh, before being released.

Tom Weitzel:

And, you know, it was quite an ordeal.

Tom Weitzel:

You know, you have to take into consideration, Riverside had never

Tom Weitzel:

had a police officer involved shooting or a police officer shot

Tom Weitzel:

ever in the history of the village.

Tom Weitzel:

So, um, it was quite a traumatic event.

Tom Weitzel:

And back in the early, the mid eighties departments didn't know

Tom Weitzel:

how to handle those shootings.

Craig Floyd:

Yeah.

Tom Weitzel:

What time of day was that, Tom?

Craig Floyd:

Yeah,

Bill Erfurth:

Tom.

Bill Erfurth:

What time of day was that?

Bill Erfurth:

3:00 AM in the morning.

Bill Erfurth:

Yeah.

Bill Erfurth:

So obviously 3:00 AM in the morning.

Bill Erfurth:

It sounds to me like you were describing they were breaking into

Bill Erfurth:

a home or a home invasion there.

Bill Erfurth:

Did any of the neighbors call 9 1 1 after hearing the gunfire?

Tom Weitzel:

Not a single call and you know, what they were doing?

Tom Weitzel:

The person that lived in that house, this was found out through investigation,

Tom Weitzel:

was, uh, worked for the sheriff's office in Cook County and his job

Tom Weitzel:

was to review people that would be up for early release or parole.

Tom Weitzel:

And he had denied the early release to a Chicago gang member.

Tom Weitzel:

He then sent other gang members to go to that house to assassinate him.

Tom Weitzel:

So the intent, the intent was to do a home invasion, kill this this, uh,

Tom Weitzel:

officer that worked for the sheriff's police, but he worked for the, the jail

Tom Weitzel:

side of it to release prisoners and as a retaliation for not letting one of

Tom Weitzel:

their gang members out on early release.

Tom Weitzel:

And then I interrupted it and they shot me instead of the homeowner.

Craig Floyd:

So Tom, really, uh, you saved this guy's life.

Craig Floyd:

I mean, it's, it's obvious that if you hadn't have stumbled upon

Craig Floyd:

that vehicle parked, uh, in a place it shouldn't have been that night

Craig Floyd:

that, that, uh, correctional, uh, professional would've been, uh,

Craig Floyd:

killed and maybe his whole family.

Craig Floyd:

And, and, uh, so kudos to you obviously you suffered, but uh, you saved a life.

Craig Floyd:

You know, one, one of the things I've long been, um, an advocate

Craig Floyd:

of, and, uh, it really upsets me when I see police officers not

Craig Floyd:

wearing their bullet resistant vest.

Craig Floyd:

It doesn't happen as often now as it used to, but, uh, you're talking 1987.

Craig Floyd:

All right, bullet resistant vests were not really worn regularly, and it

Craig Floyd:

was not mandatory back in those days.

Craig Floyd:

But for some reason, uh, maybe it was your wife.

Craig Floyd:

Uh, I'm, I'm sure my wife would've had me wearing a vest, but you purchased

Craig Floyd:

your own vest and it saved your life.

Craig Floyd:

Talk to me about that.

Craig Floyd:

I.

Tom Weitzel:

Yeah, so they didn't purchase vests for us when I started.

Tom Weitzel:

You had to do it on your own.

Tom Weitzel:

And actually my wife purchased it as a gift and she had purchased back then the,

Tom Weitzel:

the brand she purchased was Point Blank.

Tom Weitzel:

I dunno if you recall those.

Tom Weitzel:

And.

Tom Weitzel:

We had to wear those under our uniforms.

Tom Weitzel:

The department policy was no.

Tom Weitzel:

Today you see a lot of the vests outside, right?

Tom Weitzel:

You had to wear it under your shirt and under your uniform,

Tom Weitzel:

and it wasn't mandatory.

Tom Weitzel:

So there was not a policy that said the officers must wear it back then.

Tom Weitzel:

So it kind of a, a strange story like, so when after I was shot, Point Blank,

Tom Weitzel:

reached out to me and said, Hey, you know, we'd like to feature you enough.

Tom Weitzel:

Uh, news ad in these police chiefs magazines and police magazines

Tom Weitzel:

about being saved by our vest.

Tom Weitzel:

And in return we will supply the whole department with free vests.

Tom Weitzel:

And they reached out to me about two months after the shooting

Tom Weitzel:

and I did not wanna do it.

Tom Weitzel:

So I told the guy from Point Blank, like, I don't want notoriety.

Tom Weitzel:

And I wasn't ready.

Tom Weitzel:

I wasn't mentally there.

Tom Weitzel:

I'm like, I, I don't want to do this.

Tom Weitzel:

I don't wanna do any ad campaign heroizing, the, you know that I got shot.

Tom Weitzel:

I don't want that.

Tom Weitzel:

Well, when my chief found that out.

Tom Weitzel:

He came over to my house and said, Tom, they're offering to

Tom Weitzel:

buy purchase bulletproof vests for free for every officer.

Tom Weitzel:

If you agree to this media campaign, I'd really like you to do it.

Tom Weitzel:

And I said, no.

Tom Weitzel:

And I think the chief was really upset at me for the rest of

Tom Weitzel:

my career until he retired.

Tom Weitzel:

I don't think he ever forgave me.

Tom Weitzel:

And it was just that I wasn't in a place to do this media blitz two months after

Tom Weitzel:

I was shot, when my wife didn't even want me to go back to work and, you

Tom Weitzel:

know, and, but my chief at the time, all he saw was, Hey, they're going to give

Tom Weitzel:

us free vest for every office there.

Tom Weitzel:

So, so I'd really like you to do this for the department and.

Tom Weitzel:

I didn't, so it caused a big problem then between the administration

Tom Weitzel:

and me during that period of time.

Bill Erfurth:

Tom, I wanna, I wanna get, I wanna.

Bill Erfurth:

Uh, expound on that a little bit, but then I want to get back to your

Bill Erfurth:

story, but Point Blank, everybody down here wore Point Blank.

Bill Erfurth:

I wore a Point Blank vest under my shirt.

Bill Erfurth:

And then later in my career I wore a 30 pound tactical vest from Point Blank.

Bill Erfurth:

And I had been to their facility a number of times because they're

Bill Erfurth:

located just outside of Fort Lauderdale, Florida down here.

Bill Erfurth:

And I remember that program and they used to do that with everybody where

Bill Erfurth:

it was, uh, it was the Point Blank Saves program, and they interviewed all

Bill Erfurth:

these cops that got saved by the vest.

Bill Erfurth:

And it was, it was quite a good thing.

Bill Erfurth:

And, but let's go back to what you were saying about when you did get shot.

Bill Erfurth:

And this gang banger rolls out of his car, out of the back,

Bill Erfurth:

shoots you with this shotgun.

Bill Erfurth:

The rest of the scumbags come running out of the, out of the

Bill Erfurth:

house that are trying to assassinate the homeowner and, and, and, uh.

Bill Erfurth:

Who are these guys?

Bill Erfurth:

What are their backgrounds?

Bill Erfurth:

Why was this happening?

Bill Erfurth:

There's they one, I guess one of 'em or all of them were gang bangers.

Tom Weitzel:

Yeah.

Tom Weitzel:

The story behind that was years later, years ATF made a gun running

Tom Weitzel:

arrest and one of the individuals they arrested wanted to give

Tom Weitzel:

information on a police involved.

Tom Weitzel:

He thought it was a murder.

Tom Weitzel:

That's what he told the ATF agent.

Tom Weitzel:

For lessening the charges that he was gonna be going away for and gun running.

Tom Weitzel:

And he's like, you shot him?

Tom Weitzel:

And they said, no, I was with the person that shot him.

Tom Weitzel:

And I will exchange that information if you, you know, give me consideration.

Tom Weitzel:

So ATF said, sure.

Tom Weitzel:

ATF reached out to Chicago, they said, Hey, you have any unsolved

Tom Weitzel:

shootings involving your police officers where they were shot?

Tom Weitzel:

They're like, Nope.

Tom Weitzel:

We do not.

Tom Weitzel:

So ATF thought he was lying and the guy didn't even know that he

Tom Weitzel:

had shot in suburban riverside.

Tom Weitzel:

He thought it was Chicago.

Tom Weitzel:

Officer and ATF finally put it together.

Tom Weitzel:

They called one day, talked to our chief and said, Hey, we, we have really good

Tom Weitzel:

lead on the guy that shot your officer.

Tom Weitzel:

Um, unfortunately, we're not gonna be able to do anything with it.

Tom Weitzel:

And the reason was, was because in Illinois in that time, the statute

Tom Weitzel:

of limitations for attempted murder of a police officer was three years.

Tom Weitzel:

If you can believe that.

Tom Weitzel:

Yes.

Tom Weitzel:

Yes.

Tom Weitzel:

Unbelievable.

Tom Weitzel:

It was three years.

Tom Weitzel:

And, um, think about this, in that same time period, the

Tom Weitzel:

charge of forgery was forever.

Tom Weitzel:

So you could write a bad check in Illinois and have the bad check bounce, and the

Tom Weitzel:

police could chase you down for 30 years.

Tom Weitzel:

You could attempt to kill a police officer, and there was a three

Tom Weitzel:

year statute of limitations, and it's since changed.

Tom Weitzel:

I worked with the state legislature when I, when that happened, I was so angry.

Tom Weitzel:

Um, IW we had a state legislator that lived in Riverside and I worked

Tom Weitzel:

with her to get the law changed, but they could do nothing for my case.

Bill Erfurth:

So that to, to me that's almost nuts, nuts, nuts.

Bill Erfurth:

But it's Illinois Bill, come on.

Bill Erfurth:

Well, it's Illinois, you know.

Bill Erfurth:

Well, what can you say?

Bill Erfurth:

But, hey, so three years attempted.

Bill Erfurth:

Murder on a police officer.

Bill Erfurth:

So if it was, if it was attempted murder on a police officer, I guess

Bill Erfurth:

the statute of limitations was the same for attempted murder on anyone?

Bill Erfurth:

Correct?

Tom Weitzel:

Yeah.

Tom Weitzel:

They didn't have a, back then, they didn't even have a designation, so

Tom Weitzel:

it was just attempted murder was a three year statute of limitations.

Tom Weitzel:

Then they didn't even have a subcategory for police.

Bill Erfurth:

Wow.

Bill Erfurth:

Wow.

Bill Erfurth:

Okay, so, and you were just about to tell us you jumped on this bandwagon

Bill Erfurth:

and, and ran with it, I guess.

Tom Weitzel:

Yeah.

Tom Weitzel:

I had a state legislator that lived in town.

Tom Weitzel:

Her, her name was Judy Baar Topinka, and I went to her and told her and

Tom Weitzel:

had gotten some local news media coverage and she had heard about it.

Tom Weitzel:

She said, yeah, I'll go, we'll go with you to Springfield, Illinois, the capital,

Tom Weitzel:

and we'll try to get this law changed.

Tom Weitzel:

Along with another law.

Tom Weitzel:

So she came up with the idea like, let's regulate these dark windows.

Tom Weitzel:

Well, let's, let's get some, some regulations in Illinois on how

Tom Weitzel:

dark your windows can be tinted.

Tom Weitzel:

So after some several months of, she proposed legislation and it passed

Tom Weitzel:

overwhelmingly to eliminate the statute of limitations and put the percentage

Tom Weitzel:

of how dark your windows could be in Illinois, uh, for that tinting.

Bill Erfurth:

Hmm.

Bill Erfurth:

Gotcha.

Bill Erfurth:

Tom.

Bill Erfurth:

I wanna back.

Bill Erfurth:

But that never helped your situation though.

Bill Erfurth:

Yeah,

Tom Weitzel:

but it wasn't able to help others.

Tom Weitzel:

But no, it did.

Tom Weitzel:

It did not, it was not able to help my situation.

Craig Floyd:

So the guy that shoots you, Tom, uh, gets off scot free.

Craig Floyd:

There was never any justice in your case, although there was some

Craig Floyd:

good legislation, another law that went into place, uh, thankfully,

Craig Floyd:

uh, as a result of your sacrifice.

Craig Floyd:

Uh, I wanna go back to the shooting though.

Craig Floyd:

Um.

Craig Floyd:

You know, thankfully most of us have never been shot.

Craig Floyd:

Okay.

Craig Floyd:

Um, I just want you to try to recollect what went on in your body, in your mind.

Craig Floyd:

I mean, you're almost killed.

Craig Floyd:

You, you, you were lifted off your feet, you said by the shotgun blast,

Craig Floyd:

and obviously did a lot of damage even though the vest, uh, saved your life.

Craig Floyd:

Um, what goes through your head?

Craig Floyd:

I mean, you were able to call.

Craig Floyd:

Uh, dispatch, I guess, and call in your, the shooting.

Craig Floyd:

I mean, tell me what's going on at that point in, in your, your life and the

Craig Floyd:

trauma that you suffered as a result.

Tom Weitzel:

Yeah, for me, and I think for most people, that if

Tom Weitzel:

they, if you ever talk to somebody who was stabbed or shot, I, I.

Tom Weitzel:

My training kicked in it, and it didn't take, it took like one

Tom Weitzel:

second, like, so I'm a big advocate for that repetitive training.

Tom Weitzel:

When I got shot, when I woke up from the, my head bouncing off the, uh,

Tom Weitzel:

end of the squad car at the bumper.

Tom Weitzel:

I just immediately went for my handgun immediately.

Tom Weitzel:

They didn't take it.

Tom Weitzel:

It was, I still had it, and back then it was a revolver.

Tom Weitzel:

I had a Smith and Wesson revolver, and they were already fleeing,

Tom Weitzel:

and I would've, I, I literally would've randomly been shooting.

Tom Weitzel:

Down the block in a suburban community.

Tom Weitzel:

So I wasn't gonna do that.

Tom Weitzel:

And then I went for my radio right and it wasn't working and

Tom Weitzel:

I immediately crawled like an the army crawl back to my squad cars.

Tom Weitzel:

My door was still open on the squad 'cause I got out to check

Tom Weitzel:

that VIN number crawled in and.

Tom Weitzel:

Called in help on the police radio and it just was, you go back to your

Tom Weitzel:

survival training and the training you're taught even in the police academy.

Tom Weitzel:

It it, and people have asked me before, how did, how did you revert back there?

Tom Weitzel:

I didn't have to revert back there.

Tom Weitzel:

I just, you just, I just defaulted to my training immediately.

Tom Weitzel:

I can't describe it any other way except for it just clicked.

Tom Weitzel:

You just went back to your training.

Bill Erfurth:

Yeah.

Bill Erfurth:

And you know, it's interesting, and I don't know, we, we should

Bill Erfurth:

compare notes here now that you've been retired for a while.

Bill Erfurth:

I'm retired for a while.

Bill Erfurth:

I find myself now, uh, in, you know, out and about and, and I, I see

Bill Erfurth:

something that happens or, you know, I'm always carrying a gun and, and

Bill Erfurth:

I just feel like I'm kind of soft.

Bill Erfurth:

Now I feel like, you know, I'm, you're not.

Bill Erfurth:

Psychologically in that mindset and in that game, and you, you kind of lose it.

Bill Erfurth:

So there's a lot to be said about that repetitive behavior

Bill Erfurth:

of muscle memory from training.

Bill Erfurth:

And I feel like now, uh, I'm not even near what I, what I should be or how I was.

Bill Erfurth:

I guess it's better to say.

Tom Weitzel:

Yeah, I would agree.

Tom Weitzel:

You lose if you're not like I, you know, I used to, we, our qualification in

Tom Weitzel:

the department was every month, right?

Tom Weitzel:

You, you get really good.

Tom Weitzel:

Even, even the officers who aren't really proficient, the more

Tom Weitzel:

you do it, the better you get.

Tom Weitzel:

Without a doubt.

Tom Weitzel:

And the physical fitness and, you know, any ground fighting

Tom Weitzel:

training we would have.

Tom Weitzel:

Um, and even in retire, I have a few things I do.

Tom Weitzel:

My wife still drives me crazy.

Tom Weitzel:

She drives me.

Tom Weitzel:

I mean, crazy by saying, when I go to restaurants and stuff, I always have,

Tom Weitzel:

I always pick a table where I can see the door and don't have my back

Tom Weitzel:

to it, and it drives my wife crazy.

Tom Weitzel:

But she goes, you've been retired now.

Tom Weitzel:

You're still doing that.

Tom Weitzel:

I'm like, I do.

Tom Weitzel:

I, that's just what I've done my whole life.

Bill Erfurth:

And it could happen anywhere, anytime.

Bill Erfurth:

Doesn't matter whether you're retired or not.

Bill Erfurth:

I mean, we told a story about this guy.

Bill Erfurth:

He was a, uh, police chief in Kentucky.

Bill Erfurth:

He was 80 years old, and he walked down the driveway to his

Bill Erfurth:

mailbox to get the mail one day.

Bill Erfurth:

And you know, your situation was with a shotgun.

Bill Erfurth:

So some scumbag jumped out of a car with a shotgun and blew his head off.

Bill Erfurth:

He was 80 years old.

Bill Erfurth:

He'd been retired for years.

Bill Erfurth:

This guy had been just recently released from prison.

Bill Erfurth:

And this guy, this 80-year-old man police chief had put him in

Bill Erfurth:

prison 30 years ago, something like that, and boom, all of a sudden.

Bill Erfurth:

So, you know, you never know and it's always better to, to be safe than sorry.

Bill Erfurth:

But I wanna ask you about this piece of shit that shot you.

Bill Erfurth:

Who is this guy?

Bill Erfurth:

I guess you know his name.

Bill Erfurth:

Do you know anything about him?

Bill Erfurth:

Did he go to prison?

Bill Erfurth:

Is he hopefully dead?

Bill Erfurth:

What's his deal?

Tom Weitzel:

He is dead now.

Tom Weitzel:

He did not go to prison for my, he was a Latin King gang member in Chicago.

Tom Weitzel:

Uh, and he was a high ranking.

Tom Weitzel:

Latin King gang member.

Tom Weitzel:

And yes, uh, he died in a street battle.

Tom Weitzel:

Years later.

Tom Weitzel:

He did have some prison stints between my shooting and when the individual wanted to

Tom Weitzel:

give him up for to ATF, he had some minor arrest that he had done, like a six months

Tom Weitzel:

or a year, and he never did an extended period of time in state prison ever, and

Tom Weitzel:

that he was killed himself in a shootout.

Bill Erfurth:

So the Latin gang, Latin Kings was a was at the

Bill Erfurth:

time and I don't know about now.

Bill Erfurth:

It was a pretty vicious street gang.

Tom Weitzel:

Very violent street gang.

Tom Weitzel:

And they, at one time they controlled Chicago.

Tom Weitzel:

They still are a violent street game in Chi in Chicago.

Tom Weitzel:

There just are many other street games in Chicago with that same status.

Tom Weitzel:

But in the early and mid eighties, the Latin Kings ruled the city of Chicago.

Tom Weitzel:

Yeah, Chicago put 'em on their radar for sure.

Tom Weitzel:

He had already been on their radar, but after this had taken place, 'cause.

Tom Weitzel:

We had received a phone call from the Chicago Police and their tactical

Tom Weitzel:

commander, which is the officers they send out in plain clothes.

Tom Weitzel:

They knew the individual well, um, and they were gonna make sure

Tom Weitzel:

that they kept a close watch.

Tom Weitzel:

We even received phone calls from the FBI and the United States Secret

Tom Weitzel:

Service at that time, offering any help that they could to.

Tom Weitzel:

Maybe make a case against this individual for other crimes that, that, like maybe

Tom Weitzel:

putting them up on wires and stuff.

Tom Weitzel:

You couldn't get 'em for my crime that that was off the books.

Tom Weitzel:

It was never gonna happen.

Tom Weitzel:

Right.

Tom Weitzel:

But they, you know, the feds did call 'em, say, Hey, you know,

Tom Weitzel:

we're, we're, you know, maybe we'll get this guy on our radar too.

Tom Weitzel:

We'll just keep 'em on the radar so that we're following their activity.

Tom Weitzel:

I don't, I did not see the federal government make an arrest.

Tom Weitzel:

Chicago had many contacts with them after this took place and then.

Tom Weitzel:

Uh, you know, some people will say, unfortunately, he was killed in Chicago.

Tom Weitzel:

I wouldn't be one of those people to say that.

Tom Weitzel:

And, and that was in a gang and he, there were no innocent people in that.

Tom Weitzel:

Those were gang bangers shooting each other.

Bill Erfurth:

Yeah, a little street justice there.

Bill Erfurth:

Hopefully.

Craig Floyd:

Tom, here's my favorite part of the story though.

Craig Floyd:

So you're shot in August of 1987.

Craig Floyd:

Nearly killed.

Craig Floyd:

Spend three days in the hospital recovering, uh, then you go home.

Craig Floyd:

As, as most wives would do, it's my understanding that your wife discouraged

Craig Floyd:

you from going back on the job.

Craig Floyd:

You'd been on the job, I believe, three years, uh, at the time of

Craig Floyd:

the shooting, and yet you decided to go back and become a police

Craig Floyd:

officer once again, even though it.

Craig Floyd:

The profession nearly killed you and I, I have to ask you, because most normal

Craig Floyd:

people, I don't think would've done that.

Craig Floyd:

But you went on not only to go back on the job for a few more years,

Craig Floyd:

you, you served 37 years in law enforcement and uh, 13 of them as

Craig Floyd:

Chief of Police in that same department that you were serving back in 1987.

Craig Floyd:

I'm just trying to understand, number one, how did, how did your wife,

Craig Floyd:

uh, continue living with you after you decided to go back, uh, against

Craig Floyd:

her wishes and why did you do it?

Craig Floyd:

My friend?

Craig Floyd:

Uh, 37 years, uh, in a profession that, uh, nearly cost your life,

Craig Floyd:

and now you have three sons that are serving in that same profession.

Craig Floyd:

Now, most people wouldn't have done that.

Tom Weitzel:

Yeah.

Tom Weitzel:

Um, so I'll, first of all, I'll say I've always thought law

Tom Weitzel:

enforcement and policing is the most honorable profession ever.

Tom Weitzel:

I've always thought that I wanted to be a policeman my whole life.

Tom Weitzel:

I was the type of kid that I went to, a Catholic grade school.

Tom Weitzel:

When I hear a siren, I'd run to the window and the nuns would

Tom Weitzel:

have to pull me back to my seat.

Tom Weitzel:

So I, I always wanted to be in law enforcement.

Tom Weitzel:

And then when this incident happened, the shooting afterwards when I came home.

Tom Weitzel:

What I found out had happened to my wife was terrible, and she, she was

Tom Weitzel:

really turned off by the way she was notified and, and what had happened.

Tom Weitzel:

So originally when I, when the department found out, you know,

Tom Weitzel:

the rest of the officer found out I was shot, they called the chief.

Tom Weitzel:

The chief said, okay, I'm gonna go over to Tom's house, pick up his wife.

Tom Weitzel:

He calls my wife, he's in the park.

Tom Weitzel:

We live in an apartment.

Tom Weitzel:

At that time, he says, I'm down in the parking lot.

Tom Weitzel:

This is what, this is how my wife gets notified.

Tom Weitzel:

I've been shot.

Tom Weitzel:

He says.

Tom Weitzel:

Your husband has been shot.

Tom Weitzel:

I don't know if he's alive.

Tom Weitzel:

Come down to the parking lot.

Tom Weitzel:

I'm gonna drive you to the hospital.

Tom Weitzel:

Wow.

Tom Weitzel:

She throws, she throws on some clothes, comes down to the, in

Tom Weitzel:

his chief's car that he drive to.

Tom Weitzel:

Loyola University Medical Center in Maywood, Illinois, where I was taken.

Tom Weitzel:

And he drops my wife off at the drive-through.

Tom Weitzel:

He doesn't go in.

Tom Weitzel:

Now, imagine this, my wife goes into the ER on her own.

Tom Weitzel:

The media's already there.

Tom Weitzel:

So my wife goes into the emergency room and she's surrounded by media

Tom Weitzel:

with no other police officers.

Tom Weitzel:

There are no media.

Tom Weitzel:

Our chief left, 'cause he said he was going back to the scene.

Tom Weitzel:

He told her instead of stay with her and.

Tom Weitzel:

When I got home after the shooting, my wife said, look, I, I can't take this.

Tom Weitzel:

I, I need you to find something else to do.

Tom Weitzel:

And over these six weeks that I wasn't, I was recuperating.

Tom Weitzel:

I'm like, what else do I know?

Tom Weitzel:

I don't.

Tom Weitzel:

This is what I've trained my whole life for.

Tom Weitzel:

It's what I wanted to do My whole life.

Tom Weitzel:

I, I don't really have skills right now at 22, 23, however old I was

Tom Weitzel:

like, I'm, I'm not a carpenter.

Tom Weitzel:

I'm not an electrician.

Tom Weitzel:

I don't have those skills.

Tom Weitzel:

The skills I have are in law enforcement.

Tom Weitzel:

And I had this talk with my wife.

Tom Weitzel:

I said, I really have to go back.

Tom Weitzel:

She goes, you have to go back or wanna go back.

Tom Weitzel:

And it started out as.

Tom Weitzel:

I have to go back.

Tom Weitzel:

By the end of the six weeks I wanted to go back and I said, you have to be on

Tom Weitzel:

board, you know, and she wasn't, at first, she was like, I can't, this is terrible.

Tom Weitzel:

I don't like the way the department treated you.

Tom Weitzel:

I'm scared to death.

Tom Weitzel:

I didn't know if you were alive or dead.

Tom Weitzel:

Um, and this is a small suburban police department.

Tom Weitzel:

She's like, oh my God, if it happens in Riverside, I, I mean, what's next?

Tom Weitzel:

So we had a lot of conversations and I got to a place where I wanted to go back.

Tom Weitzel:

Being the profession that I loved and still love and serve honorably.

Tom Weitzel:

And you know, on a side note, when I went back, they sent me, I had

Tom Weitzel:

to go through all the usual, see a shrink and all this stuff to

Tom Weitzel:

get legal to get back on the road.

Tom Weitzel:

And the chief said to me, um, yeah, you know, I don't think, you might

Tom Weitzel:

not rise too high in the department.

Tom Weitzel:

Like, I think this is gonna hold you back being shot.

Bill Erfurth:

What an asshole.

Bill Erfurth:

So, you know, you don't have to name names, but Yeah, asshole.

Bill Erfurth:

That's a good thing.

Bill Erfurth:

So, you know, honestly, because I'm as the, as you're telling this story, and

Bill Erfurth:

I'm thinking, you know, every experience that I had with someone that was shot.

Bill Erfurth:

They were forever anointed and taken care of on the police department.

Bill Erfurth:

Heroes, you know, when they came back to work, they got a suite assignment,

Bill Erfurth:

they got what they wanted, they were looked out for, they often got promoted.

Bill Erfurth:

This is contrary to everything that you're saying.

Tom Weitzel:

You know what I did, they did with me.

Tom Weitzel:

When I returned, they sent me, I had to go to the shrink and then they sent

Tom Weitzel:

me to, uh, somebody to put hypnosis so maybe I could give a better description.

Tom Weitzel:

And back in the eighties, they didn't know what they did.

Tom Weitzel:

It was, it didn't work.

Tom Weitzel:

It was a joke.

Tom Weitzel:

But they, they wouldn't allow me to, I had to ride a two man police

Tom Weitzel:

car for the first month 'cause they were afraid I would overreact.

Tom Weitzel:

And then they took me off midnight and they didn't put, so they would.

Tom Weitzel:

They wouldn't allow me to work midnights for over six months.

Tom Weitzel:

So I worked just days in four to 12 when I always worked midnights

Tom Weitzel:

because I was so young, right?

Tom Weitzel:

It was all by seniority.

Tom Weitzel:

So that was their answer to putting me back on the street, keeping me off the

Tom Weitzel:

midnight shift, and having me double up with an officer until that officer

Tom Weitzel:

said, yeah, I don't think Tom will overreact, because the chief told me,

Tom Weitzel:

he is like, yeah, after being shot, I think you might overreact on a situation.

Tom Weitzel:

I'm like, where did you come up with that?

Tom Weitzel:

Like what kind of training do like you have, you know?

Tom Weitzel:

So, 'cause these, the chiefs back then, they didn't have a lot of training in

Tom Weitzel:

this area, especially if you were in suburban department where they never

Tom Weitzel:

experienced an officer shooting ever.

Tom Weitzel:

They didn't know what to do.

Bill Erfurth:

So you feel like you got maybe a little bit of retribution

Bill Erfurth:

after you told that story about, uh, the Point Blank situation I suppose.

Tom Weitzel:

Yeah.

Tom Weitzel:

And you know, and I didn't really, I took some credit.

Tom Weitzel:

I didn't, and my thing was I didn't wanna bring notoriety to myself on that.

Tom Weitzel:

I, I was only on the job three years.

Tom Weitzel:

I'm a lonely patrolman.

Tom Weitzel:

I have no authority.

Tom Weitzel:

I have no rank, I have nothing.

Tom Weitzel:

And I didn't want this to define my career.

Tom Weitzel:

And you're right.

Tom Weitzel:

People, I mean, when I, people looked at you differently when you come back,

Tom Weitzel:

but if you're, if you're being held in a thing where they're giving you special

Tom Weitzel:

assignments and maybe looking at you as, Hey, you've been through the battle.

Tom Weitzel:

That didn't happen with me.

Tom Weitzel:

I was given no special assignments.

Tom Weitzel:

I wasn't, I wasn't, uh, treated any differently.

Tom Weitzel:

The officers were great, the administration was not.

Bill Erfurth:

Yeah, I'm sure.

Bill Erfurth:

I'm sure.

Bill Erfurth:

And it's, and it all well on that point, it always seems to be that way.

Craig Floyd:

Bill, you may know this too.

Craig Floyd:

I, I know Tom does.

Craig Floyd:

But, um, we, at the National Law Enforcement Officers

Craig Floyd:

Memorial Fund had worked very closely as partners with DuPont.

Craig Floyd:

DuPont makes the Kevlar fiber, that gives the bullet resistant vests,

Craig Floyd:

their, their resistance power.

Craig Floyd:

And, uh, it's been extremely valuable.

Craig Floyd:

Uh, those vests have saved.

Craig Floyd:

Thousands and thousands of police lives since they started being

Craig Floyd:

used back in, uh, the mid 1970s.

Craig Floyd:

And they do have A-I-A-C-P, DuPont Kevlar Survivors Club.

Craig Floyd:

Uh, people like Tom become members of that club when they are saved by a bullet

Craig Floyd:

resistant vest, and they're usually.

Craig Floyd:

Publicized, uh, Tom, I can understand, uh, the traumatic, uh, event you were

Craig Floyd:

going through and, and just months after the shooting, you were asked to kind of

Craig Floyd:

be out there and, and tell your story.

Craig Floyd:

I, I can understand why you would be hesitant to do that, but I will say that

Craig Floyd:

the, uh, survivors club, um, I think just the mere fact that they're telling

Craig Floyd:

stories about officers who've been saved by their vests have encouraged.

Craig Floyd:

Uh, thousands of officers to wear their vests because I think most

Craig Floyd:

officers, sometimes it's hot.

Craig Floyd:

Sometimes these vests can be uncomfortable, especially

Craig Floyd:

in the summer months.

Craig Floyd:

But the bottom line is you never know when that life-threatening moment may come.

Craig Floyd:

But you do know that it could come on the very next call and that

Craig Floyd:

vest may very well save your life.

Craig Floyd:

So that's kind of a public service announcement I'll make, uh, for all

Craig Floyd:

those law enforcement professionals.

Craig Floyd:

And there.

Craig Floyd:

Family members that are listening because, uh, as in your case, Tom, uh,

Craig Floyd:

I know of a lot of wives and children of officers who have purchased bullet

Craig Floyd:

resistant vest to make sure their loved one, uh, gets home safely.

Craig Floyd:

So I hope that continues.

Bill Erfurth:

Well, and you know, and you know, Craig, you're talking

Bill Erfurth:

about DuPont and you're talking about, uh, you know, Point Blank.

Bill Erfurth:

Well, we'll talk about the IACP napal, the Top COP Awards, all those kind of things.

Bill Erfurth:

You know, oftentimes an officer, you know, like, like Tom, you know,

Bill Erfurth:

you have a traumatic incident, you're involved in some situation.

Bill Erfurth:

These people.

Bill Erfurth:

Have awards and, and banquets, and you're recognized, and oftentimes there's some

Bill Erfurth:

kind of monetary award or something else.

Bill Erfurth:

Nice.

Bill Erfurth:

That's done for you.

Bill Erfurth:

Tom, how did your chief treat you at the time?

Bill Erfurth:

I mean, you should have been the officer of the month, the officer of the year.

Bill Erfurth:

Uh, what happened?

Tom Weitzel:

It was, it, it, it was very, he treated me very poorly.

Tom Weitzel:

There's no question about that.

Tom Weitzel:

And I think it was lack of education and knowing what to

Tom Weitzel:

do, I mean, would never happen.

Tom Weitzel:

So what happened to me with my chief in the administration.

Tom Weitzel:

You'd be fired.

Tom Weitzel:

Now if you were a chief, you'd act like that.

Tom Weitzel:

Now they maybe, you know, we've made a lot of progress, right?

Tom Weitzel:

In officers post-traumatic stress disorder, a lot of treatment,

Tom Weitzel:

there was really none of that.

Tom Weitzel:

It was basically get right, go get your legalities done, like be the

Tom Weitzel:

shrink, will tell you that you can come back to work so Riverside isn't sued.

Tom Weitzel:

And that was about it.

Tom Weitzel:

And there was really no follow up.

Tom Weitzel:

I did receive the Kevlar DuPont award and the chief didn't really want to kind of

Tom Weitzel:

highlight that, so they wanted to present it at a village board meeting Okay.

Tom Weitzel:

In front of our elected officials.

Tom Weitzel:

And, uh, maybe the police officers could come and he just wanted it.

Tom Weitzel:

To be acknowledged and not have that.

Tom Weitzel:

So, you know, being young back then, I just, I didn't, you know, I didn't

Tom Weitzel:

wanna, uh, you know, you're naive.

Tom Weitzel:

I wanna get back to work.

Tom Weitzel:

You're confused.

Tom Weitzel:

You, you didn't get the support you thought you should get from the

Tom Weitzel:

administration, not the officers.

Tom Weitzel:

The officers were fantastic, but.

Tom Weitzel:

So it, I, while I did receive that award that, uh, Craig just mentioned earlier,

Tom Weitzel:

it, um, wasn't on the stain plateau that you would see that done today.

Bill Erfurth:

Wow.

Bill Erfurth:

That's crazy to me.

Bill Erfurth:

So what happened to that guy?

Bill Erfurth:

Hopefully you got fired.

Bill Erfurth:

And then the other part of my question is clearly as you rose through the ranks, you

Bill Erfurth:

know, in deference to what that guy said.

Bill Erfurth:

Well, you, you became the police chief there, so I'm sure this was

Bill Erfurth:

an invaluable lesson to you and you never treated your folks like that.

Tom Weitzel:

That's exactly right.

Tom Weitzel:

I, I made a focus, you know, when you're a patrolman, you're not gonna,

Tom Weitzel:

you don't say, I want to be the chief.

Tom Weitzel:

You just want to be able to do your job.

Tom Weitzel:

But I held every rank.

Tom Weitzel:

I went, I was patrolman, I went to street sergeant, I went to detective

Tom Weitzel:

sergeant, I went to Operations Lieutenant, and then finally deputy

Tom Weitzel:

Chief and I was even acting chief until they decided what they wanted to do.

Tom Weitzel:

So when the chief left at that time.

Tom Weitzel:

When the shot spot was open, they weren't sure that they wanted to go inside.

Tom Weitzel:

So the village was doing this national search for a police chief.

Tom Weitzel:

And you know, they came to me and said, Hey, put your name in.

Tom Weitzel:

And I said, I'm not putting my name in.

Tom Weitzel:

I've worked here 25.

Tom Weitzel:

You guys know me.

Tom Weitzel:

If you don't want me your chief, I'm okay with that.

Tom Weitzel:

Like, I'm not, I'm, that's okay.

Tom Weitzel:

Right.

Tom Weitzel:

And then, uh, the following day, the, uh, village president and

Tom Weitzel:

the city manager came and said.

Tom Weitzel:

Yeah, we do want you, like, how, how do what, what do we

Tom Weitzel:

do to get you to be a chief?

Tom Weitzel:

And when I accepted it, I, you could, my wife was here, she'd tell you the

Tom Weitzel:

same thing I said all the years that I was going up in the department, I

Tom Weitzel:

am not gonna have policies like this.

Tom Weitzel:

I'm gonna be a completely different um, chief.

Tom Weitzel:

I'm gonna make sure that the officers are well taken care of.

Tom Weitzel:

And in fact, I bet you that there were some politicians that would

Tom Weitzel:

tell you that I was quote unquote.

Tom Weitzel:

Officers chief, like maybe I wasn't as administrative as I should have been, that

Tom Weitzel:

I had a tendency to really support the rank and file police officers and I did.

Tom Weitzel:

But you know, I lasted as 13 years as the chief.

Tom Weitzel:

So I think a lot of the politicians that I served under, they supported

Tom Weitzel:

that because I was not what you would consider a chief that sat in his office

Tom Weitzel:

all day and put memos out and emails.

Tom Weitzel:

I mean, I was out there with my officers and.

Tom Weitzel:

I wanted to be different, and if that, they didn't want that kind of chief,

Tom Weitzel:

I didn't want to be their chief.

Paul Boomer:

Tom's story of survival is remarkable, but what happened next

Paul Boomer:

would test him in ways he never imagined.

Paul Boomer:

Next episode, we'll hear about his fight against a justice system that

Paul Boomer:

failed him and how his advocacy is protecting officers across Illinois.

Paul Boomer:

Join us for part two of Tom Weitzel's story.

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About the Podcast

Heroes Behind the Badge
We tell REAL stories about REAL cops.  And we expose the fake news about police and give you the REAL truth.
From the front lines to the final call, Heroes Behind the Badge brings you the untold stories of America's law enforcement community. Led by Craig Floyd, who spent 34 years working alongside police officers across the nation, alongside veteran facilitator Dennis Collins and law enforcement expert Bill Erfurth, this podcast cuts through misconceptions to reveal the true nature of modern policing.

Our dynamic trio brings unique perspectives to each episode: Craig shares deep insights from his decades of experience and relationships within law enforcement, Dennis guides conversations with meticulous research and natural flow, and Bill adds engaging commentary that makes complex law enforcement topics accessible to all listeners.

Each episode features in-depth conversations with law enforcement professionals, sharing their firsthand experiences, challenges, and triumphs. Drawing from extensive research and real-world experience, we explore the realities faced by the over 800,000 officers who serve and protect our communities every day.

From dramatic accounts of crisis response to quiet moments of everyday heroism, our show illuminates the human stories behind the badge. We dive deep into the statistics, policies, and practices that shape modern law enforcement, offering listeners a comprehensive understanding of what it truly means to serve in law enforcement today.

Whether you're a law enforcement professional, a concerned citizen, or someone seeking to understand the complexities of modern policing, Heroes Behind the Badge provides the context, insights, and authentic perspectives you won't find anywhere else. Join us weekly as we honor those who dedicate their lives to keeping our communities safe, one story at a time.

Presented by Citizens Behind the Badge, a nonprofit organization dedicated to supporting and advocating for law enforcement professionals across the United States. Join over 126,000 Americans who have already signed our Declaration of Support for law enforcement at behindbadge.org.