THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, May 2, 1996 TAG: 9605020435
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY LARRY W. BROWN, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: Medium: 99 lines
Sixteen years ago, the Rev. Tom Douros lost one son, killed while on duty as a Norfolk police officer. He came close on Wednesday to losing another the same way.
Investigator Robert Douros, a vice-narcotics detective, was shot in the upper left arm during a morning drug bust on Reservoir Avenue in the Brambleton section. Another bullet ricocheted off his helmet.
``If he didn't have the helmet on, it could have ended his life,'' Rev. Douros said.
Robert Douros, who turned 38 last month, released a short statement from his bed at Sentara Norfolk General Hospital: ``I'm thankful to the good Lord for saving my life.''
The wounded officer was listed in stable condition late Wednesday and could go home today. Family members and close friends were able to visit him shortly after the shooting.
``He was in good spirits, kidding with people,'' said Rev. Douros, pastor of the Community Church of Norfolk.
Douros joined the Norfolk police force three months after his older brother, Stephen, was killed in 1980 when his patrol car was hit by a suspect's speeding vehicle.
The raid in Brambleton was part of a drug sweep in three neighborhoods.
Search warrants filed late Wednesday with the clerk of court stated that police wanted to enter two dwellings on Reservoir and Claiborne avenues in Brambleton, one on East Berkley Avenue in Berkley and two on Dunkirk Avenue in Lafayette Manor.
They were searching for heroin, cocaine and marijuana, the warrants stated.
Robert Douros' mood at the hospital was quite a change from the terror that greeted him when he entered a house in the 700 block of Reservoir Ave.
About 8 a.m. vice and narcotics investigators entered the two-story house. Douros was inside when a suspect fired several times.
Officers shot back but no one else was hit. They dragged Douros to safety.
The suspects did not give up easily, said Assistant Police Chief Curtis Todd. The shooter had to be wrestled down.
Two men and a woman - the assailant and two other suspects - were in police custody Wednesday, Todd said. Their names were not released and charges against them were pending.
Fellow officers ``acted very heroically'' to help Douros and to apprehend the suspects, police spokeswoman Maravia Ebong said. Douros lost a lot of blood, Ebong said.
This was the second time this year a Norfolk police officer was shot while on duty in Brambleton.
On Jan. 3, Officer Chris R. Amos, while on bicycle patrol, was shot twice while trying to catch a suspected drug dealer. Police said he was spared a life-threatening wound by his bulletproof vest.
Amos was trying to grab a suspect when the man shot him in the chest and left leg, police said. After falling, Amos returned fire, killing the suspect, 19-year-old Juan H. Moore.
Wednesday morning, Rev. Douros was getting ready to eat breakfast at home when he received the phone call about his son.
``I was wondering how serious it was,'' the minister said. ``We prayed that the Lord would protect him. We were so relieved to know . . . it was not as serious as it could have been.''
But he saw his son's blood-soaked clothing and remembered his oldest son's death at age 23 in June 1980.
Stephen, who had been on the force two years, was on patrol in Ocean View when the squad car he was in was hit by car being pursued by another police cruiser.
Anna Tipton Morris of Norfolk was driving about 70 miles an hour. She slammed into the passenger side of Douros' car. He died instantly. ILLUSTRATION: Color photos
BETH BERGMAN/The Virginian-Pilot
Norfolk Police Sgt. J.H. Johnson reacts to the wounding of
Investigator Robert Douros, 38, Wednesday moring during a drug bust
on Reservoir Avenue in the Brambleton section. The raid was part of
a drug sweep in three Norfolk neighborhoods.
Robert Douros
Map
The Virginian-Pilot
Color photo
DEDICATED TO POLICE BROTHERHOOD
Investigator Robert Douros, left, was shot Wednesday during a drug
bust on Reservoir Avenue in Norfolk. In June 1980, Douros' brother,
Stephen, right, who was on the police force two years, was on patrol
when his squad car was hit by a car being pursued by another police
cruiser. He died instantly.
KEYWORDS: SHOOTING INJURIES NORFOLK POLICE DEPARTMENT
DRUG RAID DRUG ARREST ARREST by CNB