Two officers from South Wales Police found themselves unexpectedly in the line of fire when a man pulled out what appeared to be a large gun on them while dealing with a welfare call at his home. PC's Mike Samuel and Sam Critcher were both working on a night shift on March 5 2021 when they responded to what appeared to be an "innocuous" call from a man concerned after an argument with his partner.
Describing the call on BBC One's Critical Incident, the officers said that the man - later named as Karl Jones, of Y Rhodfa, Barry, aged 30 - called the police to ask for help after becoming concerned about the "harm he may do to himself" after the argument at home in Barry. Believing the call to be low risk, PC Samuel initially attended alone, before PC Critcher attended as "it's always better to go in two's".
And it's fortunate that they did as the incident went south very quickly. The officers said that when they arrived at Karl's property he was "visibly upset" and crying, but also appeared intoxicated. After a brief chat, the officers thought they were able to calm him down and two constables - who also happened to be in the area - were stood down, believing no danger.
