The Shot

A young filmmaker documents a political showdown between an authoritarian president and a brave Ugandan pop singer. When he aims his lens, he has no idea the shot he’s about to take. And – the story of people who come face-to-face one night in the Canyonlands of southern Utah. STORIES The Shot A young filmmaker documents a political showdown between an authoritarian president and a brave Ugandan pop singer. When he aims his lens, he has no idea the shot he’s about to take. Huge thanks to the amazing Moses Bwayo! Moses’s film 'Bobi Wine: The People's President' https://films.nationalgeographic.com/bobi-wine-the-people-s-president was nominated for an Academy Award, for best documentary. It received a ten minute standing ovation at its premier at the Venice film festival. Produced by Anna Sussman and John Fecile. Original score by Renzo Gorrio, edited by Nancy Lopez, artwork by Teo Ducot. The Incident at Poison Spider Mesa The story of two men who come face to face one night in the canyonlands of southern Utah. Thank you, Brody, for sharing your story. Brody Young is a Utah State Park Ranger and motivational speaker, helping people figure out how to survive the unsurvivable. To find out more about his story, be sure to check out his website. https://rangerbrodyyoung.com/ Produced by Joe Rosenberg, original score by Leon Morimoto. Season 16 - Episode 13 Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices https://dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Speaker names marked ? are inferred from speaking time and the show’s known hosts — they are not voice-verified.

• 0:07Glynn Washington?

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• 0:50Glynn Washington?

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• 1:05Speaker 01

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• 1:38Glynn Washington?

  Just a little while ago, the folk that were creating this show all gathered in one place, Pacifica, California. Lovely spot near the ocean. We got together to learn from each other and from others, to run by ideas, to be inspired, to dive deep. And one of our producers, John Fassil, he invited a man to share some of his stories. And Snap was, I was so transfixed by what this man told us. But Dan Snap Judgment from KQED, we've asked him to share a little bit of what he told us with you.

• 2:24Glynn Washington?

  Snap proudly presents The Shot. My name is Glynn Washington. The universe works in mysterious ways when you're listening to Snap Judgment.

• 2:42Glynn Washington?

  For today's story, we go to Uganda, where President Museveni has held power for 39 years. In Uganda's most recent election, this president was actually challenged by a candidate who happened to be a young, charismatic, beloved pop star by the name of Bobby Wine. Bobby Wine's candidacy sets the stage between an upstart David and a Goliath, who international observers charge weaponizes the full power of the state's security apparatus with beatings, with disappearances, with terror. Still, Bobby Wine fights on, winning converts and making history just by remaining alive.

• 3:23Glynn Washington?

  Seeing this, one man thinks this is the story he has to document with his video camera, even though it means that the state's security apparatus will now be turned on him. And yes, as this story is real life with real people, sensitive listeners should know it does reference violence. An assessment takes us there. Snap Judgment.

• 3:57Speaker 02

  Everyone in Moses Boyo's life kept telling him to put down his camera. Everyone.

• 4:06Speaker 03

  Yeah, there was relatives, like close relatives. People called me, like old friends who I hadn't spoken with in a long time started calling me. But yeah, it was like, you know, uncles, aunties. They were like, you know, you know, this government, like, what are you doing? Like, this is dangerous. Whatever you're doing is dangerous and you have to stop.

• 4:30Speaker 02

  Moses was spending all day, every day filming Bobby Wine.

• 4:44Speaker 02

  Bobby Wine is a musician who was famous for protest songs about Uganda's dictator Yawari Museveni.

• 4:58Speaker 02

  And now he'd gone from singing about the ruler in veiled rhymes to actively campaigning against him.

• 5:09Speaker 03

  There were so many people, so many people on the streets of Kampala.

• 5:18Speaker 03

  So many people just showing him love and out to like, you know, celebrate with him.

• 5:26Speaker 02

  In the beginning, Bobby Wine's campaign was joyous and hopeful. Everyone was caught up in the possibility of change.

• 5:34Speaker 03

  I think the most compelling scenes were when you would see these multitudes of crowds. And all they were asking for is change. Like, for me, that was the most fulfilling. I would feel like, oh, my God. And it was across age, old, young, women, men, kids. And they're like running, running, following us.

• 6:02Speaker 02

  Everyone that makes documentary films knows that the days are long. Moses was filming these rallies and convoys through the streets. And then at night, he'd go back to Bobby Wine's house to film late-night strategy sessions in his living room. Conversations with his family about their safety.

• 6:21Speaker 03

  So we are in very dangerous times.

• 6:26Speaker 03

  And therefore...

• 6:27Speaker 02

  Moses had full access to Bobby Wine's thought processes. And every step along the way, he found that there was so much momentum to this campaign that he kind of couldn't leave Bobby Wine's side.

• 6:42Speaker 04

  But then eventually, it became 24/7. How did that make you feel?

• 6:48Speaker 04

  Uh, at first, at first I was like, I, I, at first I didn't really mind. But when things started to like get risky, I was afraid.

• 7:00Speaker 02

  This is Nuluh, Moses's wife. Moses and Nuluh started to see security forces popping up around them because of Moses's constant filming.

• 7:12Speaker 03

  I noticed I was being followed a lot and they, there was people on our streets, like outside my house, armed, you know, with guns. And, you know, these are like known vehicles that, that were kidnapping people in the country.

• 7:32Speaker 02

  Moses was pretty sure he knew who was sending these men to his sidewalk.

• 7:38Speaker 03

  Idi Amin is very famous around the world for how brutal his government was, but his government only lasted seven, seven years. President Museveni has been in power for thirty-eight years now. It's coming to forty years, you know. He has managed to subdue the Ugandan population. It, it, Ugandans live in a military capture. It's, it's a captured regime. It's a, um, you know, it's, it's a place where if you speak out, they'll come at you with every method imaginable just for his regime survival.

• 8:21Speaker 02

  This was when Nuluh and everyone else close to Moses started asking him to stop putting himself in danger. Stop following Bobby Wine around with a camera. Just put it away.

• 8:33Speaker 04

  He was like, I would say obsessed. With the camera and, you know, with, he was obsessed with the camera.

• 8:43Speaker 03

  Bobby Wine has, has, you know, literally sacrificed himself and his family, right? And being close to him. To him, you're equally just doing the same thing, right? And I was just right next to Bobby Wine all the time, every day.

• 9:00Speaker 02

  But did he have? It seems to me that he was a little more protected than you because he was.

• 9:04Speaker 03

  He was. Yeah, he is, he is because he's famous.

• 9:08Speaker 02

  Right, and you were just the guy standing next to him.

• 9:11Speaker 03

  Right, if anything happens to Bobby Wine, you know, CNN, BBC, Al Jazeera.

• 9:16Speaker 02

  The UN, the US.

• 9:18Speaker 03

  The UN, the US ambassadors, you know, presidents, they're going to write about this, right? They're going to tweet, they're going to, you know, seek answers and but a camera guy next to Bobby Wine.

• 9:35Speaker 02

  But Moses felt this need to document the history being made in Uganda. He was collecting thousands of hours of footage, huge rallies in rural football fields.

• 9:54Speaker 02

  And quiet interviews with torture victims, footage of funerals of people killed by police.

• 10:01Speaker 03

  The footage is another story on its own because we needed to like come up with a plan. Because I knew anytime my house will be, they will break into my house.

• 10:14Speaker 02

  He'd tape his SD cards underneath placemats on the dining room table.

• 10:19Speaker 03

  Because I knew if the military and police break into this house, they're going to look through every like real place and, you know, under beds and mattresses and things like obvious places. So I needed to find the most unobvious place, like just hide it in plain sight. So yeah, they'll walk into the house, who will flip a table mat looking for footage?

• 10:42Speaker 02

  And this is where Nulu came in. Nulu became a mastermind at hiding footage.

• 10:48Speaker 04

  I was into it. I was in it. I'm married to Moses. I'm not divorcing him. So there's two options. Either you divorce him and you're done. Or if you're in, you're totally in.

• 11:02Speaker 02

  She'd smuggle hard drives to remote locations outside of the city. She had code words she'd use to signal a handoff.

• 11:09Speaker 04

  You know, we had a code word.

• 11:11Speaker 02

  You had a code word?

• 11:12Speaker 04

  Yes.

• 11:12Speaker 02

  That meant like a safe word?

• 11:14Speaker 04

  Yeah, it was a safe word. It was just like, you know, that could be like, I would be like, I have some spaghetti for you. Do you want some, eat some spaghetti today? Because we knew like they were listening. Sometimes maybe they are tapping. So even when I would get there, I would be like, okay. So it's like, well, you know.

• 11:32Speaker 02

  Thank you for the spaghetti.

• 11:33Speaker 04

  Yeah, thank you.

• 11:35Speaker 02

  Nulu would carefully wrap up the hard drives in plastic until they were watertight and then tape them to the inside of bumpers in cars. But like, was it easier to make the footage safe than to make you safe?

• 11:47Speaker 03

  Oh, my God, absolutely.

• 11:50Speaker 04

  Yeah.

• 11:50Speaker 03

  Yeah, because in so many ways, there's a way you can hide footage and do things. But like, you can't hide yourself.

• 12:00Speaker 04

  You know, you're very careful what you eat, what you say.

• 12:04Speaker 02

  What do you mean, what you eat?

• 12:05Speaker 04

  Because anybody, if they wanted Moses and me and they couldn't like, probably kidnap us or shoot us, then you could be poisoned or something and they could use anyone. But like at work, you know, like I would never eat anything. A workmate just brings me. I would never drink anything.

• 12:26Speaker 02

  Nulu worked as an analyst for an NGO in downtown Kampala. And she said she was starting to get borderline paranoid.

• 12:34Speaker 04

  I would lock up everything of mine. I would never drink anything.

• 12:39Speaker 02

  So like if at work, someone brought you tea, you wouldn't know?

• 12:46Speaker 02

  There was so much mistrust in the country, and there was unpredictable violence. Every day, every week, everyone was on edge and scared to talk to anybody else. Moses couldn't even tell Nulul everywhere that he went.

• 13:01Speaker 03

  I mean, there were things I couldn't even discuss with my wife. I had, like, really closed down my friends group because, you know, there's so much surveillance, you know, around. My wife used to tell me, "Moses, you're not fine. You're not fine." I was like, "No, I'm fine. I have no problem." You know, and I just kept going, going, going, going, going, going.

• 13:23Speaker 04

  He just kept going and going. Like, he would be with Bobby and bullets are flying. The next day, he's back to work and someone is knocked down by a military truck and they died. And the next day, I'm like, "How do you manage to keep going? I wouldn't. I would take a back step and like, kind of recover."

• 13:42Speaker 03

  I think I got to a point where I forgot about death, honestly. It went from supporters and people around Bobby being picked up, kidnapped, and disappeared, and to now this violence being meted upon journalists, you know, people close to Bobby Wine, myself inclusive.

• 14:08Speaker 02

  Nulul said that one day she woke up worried, more worried than usual. Moses was about to set out on a long day of filming.

• 14:18Speaker 04

  So I would make him like a big breakfast, more like a lunch. You know, you can have a lunch. So this morning, I'd made him this nice breakfast. We ate, and then after we said a prayer. And after this prayer, I felt like, I feel like in my spirit, you shouldn't go to work this day. And he said, "It's an important day."

• 14:36Speaker 02

  That day, Moses was planning on filming Bobby Wine singing a song called "Ballot or Bullet."

• 14:42Speaker 04

  I feel in my spirit that if you go and you get onto the camera trying to film Bobby today, they're going to arrest you. And it's not going to be regular policemen. It's going to be the army.

• 14:55Speaker 02

  Moses went to work filming Bobbi Wine, and Nulule went to her office. And the day seemed to come and go with no events. Nulule was coming home from work on the back of a motorcycle taxi when she got a phone call. It was Bobbi Wine's wife.

• 15:11Speaker 04

  And then she said to me, "Your husband has been arrested, and he's at Kabala Gala Police Station." I didn't know what to do because I felt helpless at the time. I was like, "How does one move from here?"

• 15:30Speaker 04

  I kept wondering whether Moses was being tortured or not.

• 15:34Speaker 02

  Moses said when he was filming the music video, he was surrounded by police officers and pushed into a van.

• 15:51Glynn Washington?

  Moses Pueyo has no idea where this police van will take him or for how long. Stay tuned.

• 16:07Glynn Washington?

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• 17:15Speaker 01

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• 17:49Glynn Washington?

  Welcome back to Snap Judgment. You're listening to the shot episode. And yes, as this story is real life with real people, sensitive listeners should know it does reference violence. When we left, documentary filmmaker Moses Bwayo has just been shoved into a van by a group of police officers and is being transported to an unknown location for unknown reasons for an unknown amount of time. Snap Judgment.

• 18:20Speaker 03

  The bus ride to the military, sorry, to the prison cell was like, like maybe three, four years in my head. It played out for a very long time because I was like, what just happened? What is going on? Like, how did I, a lawful citizen, get into this place?

• 18:42Speaker 03

  I was so terrified. I was just like, actually, maybe at that point, I was like, maybe this film, I'm in the wrong path, you know? But when I got to jail, like when I got there and I started to speak to people there, I was like, oh, my God. Like, this is why I came here, you know? And, and you see young people, young people, like thousands of them who are just locked up for no reason. You know, they were just picked up off the street, you know? And it's called idle and disorderly.

• 19:18Speaker 02

  Idle and disorderly, a police catchall for rounding up young people who might be seen as a threat. He says he was locked in a small, hot room with an open sewer with all these other young men. At home, Nuluh had no idea when she would see him again.

• 19:36Speaker 04

  Many people cried. I remember our family members were there. They felt like, this is it, he's never going to come out. But I kind of held on to hope. And I was like, everyone was crying. I remember my dad came, my sister, and everyone was crying. And they're like, oh my God, your husband, you will never see him again. And I was like, guys, don't cry for me or him, just pray. Just pray or give us, you know, words of hope.

• 20:03Speaker 02

  After two days, Moses was released. He hadn't been beaten or tortured, but the message had been received. He could be taken away again at any time. Nuluh came to pick him up.

• 20:17Speaker 04

  Part of me wanted to comfort him and a part of me wanted to be like, you got yourself in this trouble, please make sure you don't get yourself again into this trouble. I'm not dealing with it. I'm not dealing with the government. But then, so I told, you know, I tried to comfort him. I tried to understand, you know, where his head was at.

• 20:35Speaker 02

  Moses's head was on getting back to his cameras and not missing any moments. The presidential election was only a few months away. He could see the finish line.

• 20:51Speaker 03

  Because I had decided and with my heart, I, you know, I loved the project, you know? So I think my brain was just in tune with my heart. And I was just like, okay, let's, let's make this, let's make sure we, we finish this and done, right?

• 21:25Speaker 03

  Part of me was drunk with the story. I, I would sleep dreaming about this film, dreaming, thinking about this film. And I think I really, really valued, valued my camera at that point. Like, like, like it took a persona. It was kind of like, like a person, you know?

• 21:47Speaker 03

  So on 6th November,

• 21:51Speaker 03

  I woke up that morning, you know, got up, said my prayers.

• 21:57Speaker 04

  And even this morning again, I told him, "Let's pray." Because, I don't know, I just feel like we should pray against the spirit of, like, being disabled. Let's pray that nothing shall happen to me, to us.

• 22:11Speaker 03

  I left the house. I took a boda boda that morning. Um, because there was this gathering, Bobby was going to give a speech. I got onto a motorcycle and we were coming down this road, kind of at the top of the hill and we're coming down. Like, all these supporters around. I noticed in front of me, there was a military, a police pickup truck. They were like, uh, it's like camouflage, but blue, light blue and navy blue.

• 22:49Speaker 02

  Police in different uniforms had different reputations.

• 22:52Speaker 03

  They are brutal, brutal, brutal guys. But they were being commanded by a policeman. And the guy starts shouting, this man commanding this situation, he pointed around and was like, "Shoot them, kill them all." He shouts this command to his unit. "Shoot them, kill them all." And, I mean, the police could see me, I could see them. I'm journalist, you know, I had a tag, you know. I see a guy, uh, he's dressed in this FFU uniform, Field Force Unit Uniform. And he looks up, but I can tell, like, we've like, looked at each other and he looked at me and I could tell he recognized me and I saw him.

• 23:37Speaker 02

  This field force officer, Moses said he had seen him before, filming Bobby Wans' rallies.

• 23:43Speaker 03

  And he points his gun up.

• 23:47Speaker 03

  He cocks it. And I knew this is not normal when he cocks it, right?

• 23:54Speaker 02

  Moses pointed his camera at the officer and hit record.

• 23:58Speaker 03

  You know, I'm, I'm just recording what's going on. What is he going to do? I mean, that's all I had. That's all I had. I mean, the camera is literally the most, one of the most powerful weapons, you know?

• 24:13Speaker 02

  So Moses is standing in the crowd, looking at this police officer. And the police officer is staring back at him, pointing his loaded gun.

• 24:21Speaker 03

  Um, so, yeah, when this guy pointed the gun in my face, I, I, it was like reflex. I just put the camera in my face.

• 24:34Speaker 03

  I've never felt such impact or pain that I, for a minute or so, a few minutes, I just blacked out and I lost control. But all I remember is I tried to get up and it was like a motorcycle going past. Stop, stop, stop. I was shouting at this motorcycle guy, this boda boda guy to stop. And I looked around and I was looking around. I saw this guy aiming for another shot. He was aiming for another shot in that moment and I jumped on the motorcycle and the guy took, uh, this motorcycle drove me away.

• 25:12Speaker 02

  Did the camera save your life, do you think?

• 25:14Speaker 03

  Oh my God, oh my God, the camera saved my life. The camera saved my life.

• 25:19Speaker 02

  Moses grabbed the nearest motorcycle taxi and hopped on the back. Blood was pouring out from under his eye. He rode to the edge of the chaos and then he picked up his camera, turned it on himself and began to narrate.

• 25:32Speaker 03

  This guy, this, this police guy shot at me. You see what happens in this country? Do you see that? He saw me with a camera and he pointed his fucking gun at me. You see that? You see that?

• 25:45Speaker 03

  I cast and I'm not someone who castes. I don't cast, but I cast and I was like, you know, this is the situation that happens in my country. You can see this, you know, I went on this rant and started speaking to the world because I thought this has to be in the film. No way this cannot be in the film. Because this is like the classic, you know, Museveni military dictatorship. This is golden stuff, like this is getting into the film.

• 26:15Speaker 02

  Nululu met him at the hospital.

• 26:19Speaker 03

  I remember she, she held my, my hand. She was like, you'll be fine.

• 26:24Speaker 04

  Because his blood was, I mean, his shirt was, he had a white shawl and it was all covered in blood. Like, you know, blood had splattered on it.

• 26:33Speaker 02

  Did you think, did any part of you think, oh, well, now he's going to put the camera down? He's going to stop.

• 26:38Speaker 04

  I thought, I thought maybe it's gonna kind of uh make him, you know, kind of slow down, but.

• 26:45Speaker 03

  Did you actually think I was going to stop?

• 26:49Speaker 04

  Yes, I thought you are going to stop because if I wear shirt, I would, I mean, that would be the end.

• 26:54Speaker 02

  Did you stop?

• 26:55Speaker 03

  No.

• 26:58Speaker 02

  Moses bandaged his eye and then picked up his camera again. He actually made it. For the next two months, he filmed nonstop up until the election. And then the day after, government forces surrounded Bobby Wine's home and placed him under house arrest. President Museveni was again declared the winner. Bobby was held captive inside for weeks and Moses was inside with him, filming it all. During that time, Nululu was home alone, waiting. And one day, two men showed up across the street from her house with binoculars.

• 27:37Speaker 04

  And there's like someone outside the gate with binoculars trying to go to him.

• 27:42Speaker 02

  Nulu called Moses on his cellphone.

• 27:45Speaker 03

  You're by yourself at home.

• 27:46Speaker 04

  Yeah.

• 27:47Speaker 03

  And you called me and I was like, oh my god, I need to get home. And you shouted, you shouted.

• 27:52Speaker 02

  The two men outside had an unmarked van. Nulu shouted to them to try and call attention to the situation, even though she was terrified. And eventually, they disappeared. But for Moses, there was something very different about this threat when compared to all the other threats he had faced. They were coming for Nulu. And Nulu was pregnant. So Moses walked out of Bobby Wine's house, out the front door and the front gate, past all the armed guards, and went home.

• 28:24Speaker 03

  My wife was seven months pregnant and they attempted to kidnap her. And I felt like, okay, now, you know, we have to leave the country. I didn't think it was right to raise my son in the Uganda that it had become. But also, I didn't think my wife was safe.

• 28:51Speaker 02

  The film director and the producers had already agreed that they couldn't put the film out until Moses and Nulu were out of the country. So Moses and Nulu started looking for a way out without drawing attention to themselves. They couldn't just leave on the next flight. They had to be more careful and strategic. The couple came up with a story that they were going on honeymoon. They packed tiny suitcases and nervously boarded a flight to Amsterdam. Once they got there, then they could buy onward flights to an undisclosed location. Somewhere safe, where they could start a new life with their new family. And where I was able to talk to them on their couch with some tea.

• 29:35Speaker 04

  Okay, just for here is your wife. You want to clean your nose? Clean your nose. There you go. Let's clean baby's nose. Hmm, clean baby, wow. Do you want to touch? You want to touch?

• 29:52Speaker 03

  You want to say hi to Auntie? Auntie Anna, this is Auntie Anna.

• 29:59Speaker 03

  Say hi.

• 30:02Speaker 03

  But Anna, I think the second day, the day after we arrived, first, the first thing I noticed, there was this, this intense feeling. I kid you not, it was such a bit, I, I woke up in the morning and I just felt alive.

• 30:27Speaker 03

  And it's a very intense feeling.

• 30:33Speaker 03

  I was recognizing people, I was recognizing faces, I was recognizing colors, I was tasting food, I was, I was smelling. And I was like, what? Like, when did I stop feeling these things?

• 31:01Glynn Washington?

  Uganda refused international observers seeking to monitor the election. And some foreign bodies said it was tarnished by an excessive use of force. Museveni was declared the winner. Moses's film, The People's President, was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Documentary. It received a 10-minute standing ovation at its premiere at the Venice Film Festival. And Snap was, I literally cannot recommend it highly enough.

• 31:30Speaker 02

  There is something interesting, Glenn, about the film that they made. Because that footage that we heard of Moses getting shot in the face, it actually didn't make it into the film.

• 31:40Glynn Washington?

  A surprise, and it seems like gold tape. Like he said, it showed everything.

• 31:46Speaker 02

  Yeah, I asked him why it didn't make it into the final version. And this is what he said.

• 31:52Speaker 03

  Because you, you don't want someone to switch off because of the violence. And it was a big note, like, you know, guys, if we're going to get a big audience behind this, we need to really. Back on the violence.

• 32:03Speaker 02

  Did you have feelings about that? Did any feelings come up?

• 32:06Speaker 03

  Oh, yeah, totally. But it's different when you've experienced the violence. And we had a task, or rather, we had been trusted with this, with the to carry these stories that we have to show to the world. You know, so I felt like, like, you know, we

• 32:32Speaker 03

  cutting back on it, it's more like, are we betraying that trust? Is this going to be as honest as it should be? You know what I mean?

• 32:44Speaker 02

  Right, like, are you gonna make a Disney version of the

• 32:45Speaker 03

  Yeah, are we cleaning it up?

• 32:49Speaker 03

  I think, you know, there was like some truths that I think just me and the camera knew.

• 33:12Glynn Washington?

  Huge thanks to the amazing Moses Bueno. This story was edited by Nancy Lopez with an original score by Rensel Goryo. It was produced by Anna Sussman and John Faseo.

• 33:27Glynn Washington?

  After the break, we're gonna take a trip to the desert. And sometimes, it's only one way in and only one way out. When Snap Judgment returns, stay tuned.

• 33:47Glynn Washington?

  Welcome back to Snap Judgment, listening to the SHOT episode. I'm Wes Con Washington. Now, this story does contain violence. As such, listener discretion is advised. Today on Snap, we meet Brody Young. And Brody Young, he's a state park ranger at a place called Dead Horse Point, deep in the canyonlands of southern Utah. And the thing is, when you're a ranger in those parts, it also means that you're the law enforcement. Now, Brody, of course, he takes that part of the job seriously. But his real love, his first love, is the desert, the canyons, the rivers, the place. Snap Judgment.

• 34:31Speaker 05

  So let's talk about the stars that come out at night.

• 34:37Speaker 05

  You can see all the stars. It's just so clear and so dark. It's considered dark sky country. And when the sun rises and you go, you know, on the cliff's edge, up a dead horse point, you can see mountain ranges that are 100, 150 miles away. It's just desolate and vast. And if you don't go out prepared,

• 35:02Speaker 05

  it's going to bite you.

• 35:07Speaker 05

  I've recovered a lot of bodies, whether they were on the river, you know, or got lost in those canyons and they just weren't prepared. So you're putting yourselves on a tight rope and it's easy to fall.

• 35:28Speaker 05

  In Desolation Canyon on the Green River, there's a few places you can go see a skull, which is odd, isn't it? But if someone dies in the desert, they're gonna stay there for a long time before they're found. Some people choose to go die alone in a beautiful place. That happens actually kind of frequently. And that's something I have a hard time understanding. How can life get so bad that you want to end it?

• 36:00Speaker 05

  November 19th, 2010, I was on patrol. I was on an extra shift. I'd worked that day, but there was some overtime money available. And it's a really warm, warm night. It's kind of the warm before the storm.

• 36:17Speaker 05

  Then I went down this Colorado River corridor to these trailheads to see if anyone is still up onto the trails. And the first trailhead I went to is Poison Spider Mesa Trailhead.

• 36:33Speaker 05

  So I found this lone car in the back of the parking lot. And it was parked really awkward like. I was worried someone would be out on the trail still that hadn't made it back. It was kind of late and late in the season too. So I couldn't see a plate and I kind of rolled up to it and turned on my overhead white lights and got out of my truck and walk around to the driver's side and I see this lump in the backseat.

• 37:00Speaker 05

  And I think, oh man, someone, someone's sleeping in there. And so I knock on the window and you know, I knock on it several times.

• 37:12Speaker 05

  And this gentleman wakes up and he opens the door and I tell him who I am and ask if he's okay. And then he said he was and then we talked about where he could go camp. Cause camping wasn't allowed in that parking lot. And he was in a sleeping bag, so I didn't get a good look at his face. His face today still doesn't mean much, but I needed to get some ID on him. And he doesn't have any or doesn't want to give me ID. So I asked him to wait there and I walked back to my truck and I looked back once, which is what you're supposed to do when you're on a traffic spot. But my night vision was blinded from the lights. And I couldn't hear anything but the noise of the truck.

• 37:55Speaker 05

  But just as I got to my truck door and just as I was about to get in, that's when the first shot rang out.

• 38:08Speaker 05

  It hits me in my left arm. I'm left-handed. It shatters and man, I screamed out and I turn and I just see muzzle flash and him advancing on me, firing one shot after the other.

• 38:26Speaker 05

  Three more rounds hit my back. Two of those rounds were stopped by the vest, but the third round broke through and went into my vertebrae.

• 38:35Speaker 05

  I fell to the ground at that point and he is just standing right over me, hitting me with round after round. There was a lot of gravel bouncing around.

• 38:47Speaker 05

  Eventually he stops.

• 38:53Speaker 05

  And then, um, I had this moment. It's a terrible cliche, but it was either you lay down and die, or you get up. And man, I wanted to live, so I got up.

• 39:11Speaker 05

  It startled him, and he ran to the front of my truck, and I ran to the back of mine. And in the meantime, I'm looking at my left hand, and I'm telling it to grab the gun, but it won't grab the gun, it won't move. And I finally just said to myself, "You idiot, use your other hand." And that's when I began firing back at him through the windows of my truck.

• 39:41Speaker 05

  I was also counting my rounds, because I knew my reload was going to be with my arm dangling. Ah, non-traditional.

• 39:52Speaker 05

  So I released the mag and put the gun between my legs. And I used my bumper to chamber a round, and I began shooting more.

• 40:11Speaker 05

  I fired, um, in all, about 24 rounds, and then he raises his hands, and I stop shooting. And he says, "You got me."

• 40:22Speaker 05

  And then I began to go unconscious.

• 40:32Speaker 05

  I woke up a short time later. I was laying on my back, and I kind of raised my head and looked down my body to see my truck running, and, um, I noticed his car was gone. And then I thought to myself, laying there, "No one knows I'm here." I didn't notify anyone that I was out checking on this car. I had been shot nine times, and I knew that the only way I was going to get help is if I got to that truck radio.

• 41:09Speaker 05

  I did not feel right inside. I felt very heavy, like someone had poured concrete on me. My right leg was numb. My left arm was numb. And it was really hard to move.

• 41:25Speaker 05

  And I slowly began just rolling onto my stomach, rolling onto my back, towards my truck. And this took some time, it felt like forever.

• 41:36Speaker 05

  And, you know, the exhaust is on and it's pouring out.

• 41:43Speaker 05

  But eventually I reached the front door. And the front door was open.

• 41:49Speaker 05

  Joe, I've always made it a point to get out of my truck, leaving that door open. I've just always felt like I should. And I leaned up against it, reached for the radio, and said, "Price, 2 Alpha 69. I'm a poison spider mace at Trailhead. I've been shot. Please hurry."

• 42:14Speaker 05

  And I didn't know what to do after that.

• 42:19Speaker 05

  All my training, I just didn't know what to do after that.

• 42:30Speaker 05

  When the ambulance arrived, it took me to the hospital in Moab. And from there, I was choppered to the hospital in Grand Junction, where I underwent emergency surgery. But let me just tell you the damage. My heart was hit, small intestine, colon, right kidney, liver, diaphragm, left lung, spine, pelvis, left humerus, you know, left triceps muscle, right forearm, right femoral nerves, right hip flexor.

• 42:57Speaker 05

  And they told me that I shouldn't be alive. Say I died a couple of times during those first few days in surgery. But after I woke up, I eventually got to the point where I asked, "Where's the suspect?"

• 43:15Speaker 05

  So I was told that after I was taken to the hospital, they found the car that he had driven off in, and it was definitely off the beaten path. But they noticed that there was a blood trail that wandered off down the river corridor.

• 43:32Speaker 05

  And they followed this blood trail for like a mile to a boulder field. And it looked like it had been setting up to ambush anyone who came over the hill because there was a backpack and a 22 rifle and, you know, food and sleeping gear. And he didn't leave a blood trail from that point on. And so the trail went cold. But when they found his vehicle, they ran the license plate and found that it led them to a name of Lance Leroy Ariano.

• 44:09Speaker 06

  Was there anything in his backpack, in the car, that his family could tell you anything that would explain why

• 44:20Speaker 06

  he shot you multiple times in the middle of the night on a routine traffic stop?

• 44:26Speaker 05

  No, no explanation.

• 44:28Speaker 06

  Did he have any kind of criminal record?

• 44:32Speaker 05

  Yeah, it was very minor, nothing violent. So why would someone do this? What would lead them down this path to where shoot a cop and run out in the desert and disappear?

• 44:45Speaker 05

  Not sure why. But federal and state and local agencies began to search for Lance over an area the size of Los Angeles.

• 44:58Speaker 05

  There was a river search, sonar capability, a helicopter. Then there were just a lot of tracking teams, you know, gun in hand and flashlight in the other, crawling through tamarisk bushes that were tall as cottonwood trees. There were a lot of calls. Yeah, we've seen them. I mean, everyone wanted him found, right? And wanted a reward. And a lot of those, well, all of them, turned out to be bogus. But they checked on all of them. They even went down San Diego in search to see if he was being very well-hidden amongst this motorcycle club.

• 45:32Speaker 05

  I even thought I saw him a couple of times in town. You know, dark curly hair and he was wearing a hat.

• 45:41Speaker 05

  Like at the grocery store, I would, you know, go back to that aisle just to walk past and to make sure.

• 45:52Speaker 05

  I don't know if he would recognize me. I didn't really get a good look at him if I would recognize him.

• 46:01Speaker 05

  But I had a couple of dreams and both dreams were the same. We were at a party and then I would see Lance come, you know, out of the corner of the room towards me. He would raise his hand and he would shoot at me and then I would shoot back and he would die.

• 46:24Speaker 05

  And so, one year after another would pass and that was kind of torturous. Not knowing what happened after, you know, he left me for dead and he drove off. Where did he go?

• 46:43Speaker 05

  I wanted an ending to it.

• 46:47Speaker 05

  And then, Christmas Eve, 2015. We're making little vials of vanilla to give out to our friends. And I get a knock at the door and it's my lieutenant. He says, "Come outside real quick" and his face is not right. So I go out and close the door in my front yard and snow on the ground and he says, "We found him."

• 47:18Speaker 05

  Two brothers had found the body in a cave, half buried in mud. And I just broke down.

• 47:30Speaker 05

  It was just, I just couldn't believe it. Because I thought, uh, he would never be found. And, um, I'll tell you, it's only 400 yards from where the backpack was. He went 400 yards and crawled into this crack of a cave. So I got to see the evidence at the sheriff's office. And, uh, boy, I saw the, saw the bones. And it was still in the sleeping bag, but they had it opened. And then, um, it was kind of laid out, head, ribs, you know, arms.

• 48:11Speaker 05

  And it's really hard to determine how he passed away, but I imagine he was, he was probably scared.

• 48:25Speaker 05

  Because when you're hurt and you're out in the middle of nowhere, and it's dark, and it's getting colder, and it's starting to snow, you can't warm up, you're cold, your breathing is, is getting worse, um, that's gotta be the worst feeling in the world. And it's probably why he crawled into that cave, was just to rest.

• 48:53Speaker 05

  And there was a letter amongst his stuff, and it was from his daughter. His daughter talked about, "We're finally gonna be able to spend this Thanksgiving together." And, uh, she was really looking forward to it. But he didn't live beyond that night. He just laid down in that cave and didn't get back up.

• 49:18Speaker 05

  I didn't know him. I didn't even really get a good look at his face. But several times, I'm told, um...

• 49:27Speaker 05

  That I just, I shouldn't be alive. So, I don't know what death feels like, but I guess I know what it feels to get close to it. And lying on the ground before anyone showed up, I felt like I had help by me that night. It was really hard to, it's hard to describe, Joe. But all I can say is that there was such a comfort. I don't know, arms wrapped around me, that the other side, maybe it's not going to be so bad.

• 50:05Speaker 05

  I don't know. What do you think Lance felt? Do you think he experienced what you experienced?

• 50:12Speaker 05

  That's a hard question. I hope so. I don't know. Maybe someday I'll get to ask the question, but it won't be in this life.

• 50:44Glynn Washington?

  Many thanks to Ranger Brody Young for sharing his story with The Snap. After a long recovery, he's back to doing what he loves, working as a state park ranger in the deserts of southern Utah. But he's also taken to motivational speaking, helping other people figure out how to survive the unsurvivable. To learn more, we'll have links to his website on our website, snapjudgment.org. The original score for that story is by Leon Morimoto. It was produced by Joe Rosenberg.

• 51:21Glynn Washington?

  If you missed even a moment, know that an entire world of Snap storytelling awaits. In fact, The New York Times lauded Snap's new series, "Mind Your Own," as one of the best podcasts of the year, hosted by Oscar winner Lupita Nyong'o. "Mind Your Own" features amazing stories from the African continent on podcast platforms everywhere right now. KQD in San Francisco is Snap's Orbiting Hall of Justice. Snap is brought to you by the team that never, ever turns the microphone off. Except, of course, for the Uber producer, Mr. Mark Wistrick. He generally forgets to turn the microphone on. Now, there's Nancy Lopez, Pat Massey Miller, Anna Sussman, Renzo Gorio, John Facile,

• 52:05Glynn Washington?

  Shayna Shealy, Taylor Decott, Flo Wiley, Bo Walsh, Marissa Dodge, David Exame, and Regina Barriaco.

• 52:16Glynn Washington?

  And this is Snap the News. No way it says the news. In fact, you'd capture the shot of your life that almost cost you your life, only to have that scene cut from the film. And you would still not be as far away from the news as this is. But this is P R X.