I called for backup and a medical unit. I ran out in the road and saw that the truck driver seemed fine. I ran toward the flipped school bus. I ran around to what was the top side of the bus and to the front to the smashed windshield. I looked in and couldn't see anything. I was still radioing it in as I grabbed my flashlight from my belt. I shined it in to what was left of the windshield and could see the driver. He was still buckled in and half of his face was missing, and he was slumped toward the door, now on the roadside. I yelled in and there was no response. I looked into the back of the bus I could only see a leg and a woman's shoe dangling over a seat.
Within seconds there were cruisers on the scene and medical units. I filled them in on what had taken place, leaving out the part about my strange vision. I only told them of the young man and how he laid down in the road and was subsequently run over. They notified a coroner and a team began a search under the truck for his body.
I was still in shock from witnessing the tragedy as I walked back to my cruiser with two fellow officers. Something caught my eye - the silhouette of the young man who had laid down in the street! I could see his yellow shirt! For some reason, it was hard to register at first because I thought he was dead. But then it clicked and I notified the other officers that this was the guy.
I began to give chase as he just walked slowly away. I drew my gun and told him to place his hands on top of his head. There was no response. I instructed him again to place his hands on top of his head. A cruiser pulled around in front of him and another behind me. At this point, I rushed in to tackle the man and dove on him; we had him in cuffs in no time. A female officer and I pulled him up to his feet. We then escorted him back to the cruiser and threw him over the hood.
We searched his pockets. He had an I.D. bracelet from a psych medical center where he was getting treatment. His name was Johann something; I can't recall right now. I made sure he knew he had caused the accident out there. And he said to me the spookiest thing...
"I serve Adonai."
I said, "What? You do what?"
"Adonai's minions - they came," he said slowly.
"What is an Adonai? Who's Adonai? Huh? Answer me!"
"They were picked for the sacrifice."
"How did you get out from under the truck?" I asked.
"They are laughing now - see?" He smiled and turned his head toward a burned out chapel on the side of the road. I looked and saw nothing, but three or four officers went and searched the church, thinking perhaps he had co-conspirators.
The full story came out later. The blond young man was an abortion activist who had flipped out and was institutionalized, and had been recently released. His mother claimed he was hearing the voices again and that he claimed God was talking to him.
Riding in the small blue school bus that was hit was a church choir returning from a concert. Seven were killed, plus the bus driver.
How did the young man survive being run over by the truck? What of the vision Elliot saw that night? Was it a hallucination, as he first thought, a premonition of the tragedy... or a manifestation of "Adonai's minions"? Note: I have done an Internet search to verify that such an accident took place in Florida on this date and could find nothing, so we have only officer Elliot's (not his real name) word that this incident really took place. (If any readers can provide verification of this accident, please notify me.)
