The police scanners are on alll day in the newsroom and we've all learned to ignore them. But you can't help but hear the voices. They are male and female, chatter between officers and dispatchers and always unusually calm, professional, betraying no emotion.

This afternoon, a terrible story is developing. Two sheriff's deputies have been shot in north Spokane. Suddenly, all in the newsroom were listening to the scanners. And the voices we heard sounded different. A man, a police or fire officer, was describing the suspect to the dispatcher. His voice was higher, hurried and shaky. You know how you sometimes speak louder to stop yourself from choking up? It sounded like this. A very worried man.

Officers down. Their fellow officers are doing their job in their usual professional way, but their voices express the gut-wrench of concern. 

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