Gunfights & Gunfighters
Pittsburgh Law Enforcement Examiner, Examiner.com By Detective Dennis Marsili
The title of Gordon Hunsaker’s first book, Gunfights & Gunfighters: Reflections from a Phoenix Police officer is aptly named because the reader will experience such vivid descriptions of police shootings that one might actually smell the cordite still lingering in the air. Hunsaker, a former Phoenix police officer turned author, transports us back to a time when policing was raw and less inhibited than in today’s litigiously fueled atmosphere. The first half of the book, which covers a span of years from the 1940′s to the ’60′s, is an inventory of some of the most exciting police shootouts in the history of the Phoenix PD. This retelling of Phoenix police pistol craft came from the author’s extensive research and interviews with some of the actual participants. Thus, great care was exercised to get the story right or as Hunsaker puts it in the parlance of the old west, “There’s no dry gulching.”
In two of the more prominent figures that occupy the first portion of the book, Hunsaker introduces us to Officer Jessy Stokes and Detective Gordon Selby, the 20th Century versions of Wyatt Earp and Bat Masterson. These two shootists are depicted as they really were, fearless and unshakable as they take on armed felons in this dessert city. In the tradition of their wild west counterparts these officers will face off against gun-toting desperadoes in pitched firefights using pin point accuracy to dispatch some of society’s’ cruelest foes. In Detective Selby’s case, these villains will usually come to their end by means of his trademark bullet pattern, three rapidly fired pistol shots punching through the miscreant’s heart. Masterson would be impressed.
One notable exception to the theme of shootouts between cops and criminals is Chapter 11 entitled ‘Blue on Blue.’ In this slight detour Hunsaker details a tragic cop on cop shooting incident which also exhibited the distinct signs of racial prejudice. In 1944 a black, on-duty Phoenix Police officer was shot and killed by an off-duty, white, fellow officer. It goes without saying that this incident shook the Phoenix PD and the community to the core. Then to add fuel to the fire the white officer was put on trial and acquitted of all charges. But, that isn’t the end of the story. You will have to read the book to see how this scenario finally plays out. However, please be assured that you will be shocked at the final disposition and how justice was served in this case.
After the gun smoke clears from the first half of the book, Hunsaker then changes gears a bit and provides us with some of the extraordinary and at times hilarious highlights of his personal career with the Phoenix PD. A career that starts in the mid 1960′s and ends in 1980 with his retirement from police work.
You will be introduced to such characters as ‘Big Mama Jackson.’ A stout but kindly woman who lives for her children, her “precious little bits of love,” as she calls them. ‘Big Mama Jackson’ displays this protective nature in a dramatic way, as witnessed and told by the author. Finding herself and her ‘little darlings’ in the crossfire of a police shootout with violent bank robbers, ‘Big Mama’ shields her children from the gunfire with her own body. After the shooting stopped Ms. Jackson discovers that she has come into possession of some evidence from the shooting. Being the civic minded citizen that she is, she dutifully reports to the nearest Phoenix Police station to turn the item over to the authorities. With Hunsaker in attendance, ‘Big Mama’ is standing in the station house in her brightly colored muumuu style dress and pulls out a flattened police issue expended bullet, then drops it in the duty sergeant’s hand. She explains that the bullet was flattened after it impacted her ample bosom. As jaws dropped to the floor Ms. Jackson, having done her public duty, turns around and walks out of the station back to tend to her children without a word of complaint or sign of injury.
That was just a sampling of the ‘war stories’ that are chronicled in this work by debut author Gordon Hunsaker. Mr. Hunsaker displays a writing style that is strong in appropriate metaphors and clear on description of action packed events. The structure is tidy and clean which should please readers of this type of genre. Therefore, I recommend this book to all those that enjoy good story telling of true crime anecdotes.
