“They had already dispatched the SWAT team”: Marvel Star’s The Walking Dead Performance Was So Realistically Unhinged the Cops Thought He’d Gone Crazy

The legend of The Walking Dead is impossible to contend with. Despite the never-ending run of seasons and storylines, the show never fails to stop the onslaught of love and adoration from an ever-growing fanbase.

While Andrew Lincoln goes around town playing everyone’s favorite post-apocalyptic messiah, the rest of the cast elevates the quality of the series which has managed to survive through the over-saturated genre of zombies and the undead.

The Walking Dead Star Spread Terror on the Streets of Atlanta

While filming the first season of The Walking Dead, the ragtag crew of survivors that would later go on to become more important to each other than family almost had the SWAT team run them down. During the second episode shoot, a sequence involved handcuffing Michael Rooker‘s character Merle Dixon to the roof of a building in the middle of zombie-infested Atlanta. The event didn’t go down quite as planned, as is usually the case in the AMC series.

The plot required Rooker’s troublemaker character initiating a ruckus simply for the sake of inciting his companions and the undead onlookers. As a gun toting Michael Rooker stood on the edge of the roof of a high-rise building, the street below with people unaware of a shoot going on grew alarmed at his sight. A few minutes later, the incident evolved further as Rooker grew aggravated by his companions and began firing shots into the air and on the street below.

For those engrossed in the unfolding plot in the series, it raised alarm bells since Merle’s actions were attracting the Walkers right to their doorstep. For the people on the street, however, who were going about their everyday lives, the situation was one warranting immediate action. And so, within minutes, 911 was called and a SWAT team was dispatched in order to restrain the unhinged man on the roof.

Michael Rooker Got a Personal Visit From the SWAT Team

In his heyday, Michael Rooker garnered immense popularity (or infamy, depending on individual perspective) for his role in The Walking Dead. However, none could foresee the actor invoking the wrath of Uncle Sam due to his commitment to the bit he was assigned to do on set. Speaking of his encounter with a SWAT team while filming the AMC series, Rooker explained in a behind-the-scenes segment:

“I’m shooting zombies, you know, and I didn’t really have any concern for that until I took the first shot and I saw people jump and run. They had already dispatched the SWAT team. The officer said, ‘Please, stand down.'”

After meeting a fairly early end (by The Walking Dead standards) and in a terribly gruesome fashion, it was unexpected to witness how a character of even Merle Dixon’s disposition could be delivered a redemption arc. In a beautifully written ending to give closure to Rooker’s character, the older and more volatile Dixon sibling was given a proper send-off, even as it surprisingly drew a few tears over Norman Reedus‘ gut-wrenching reaction to his on-screen brother’s death.

The Walking Dead is available for streaming on Netflix.