LODI, CA –Who says a cop is never around when
you need one?
On August 12th, Lodi Police Officer Erika
Urrea was patrolling her area when she observed a man in an
electric chair stuck on the railroad tracks.
What was worse is that a train was on its way and the man could
not move.
The officer, disregarding her own safety, jumped into action and
pulled him free at the last literal second.
Lodi police officer rescues
man in wheelchair from oncoming train in dramatic video https://t.co/JZU3ZYK2rK— Los Angeles Times (@latimes)
August 13, 2020
The situation appeared to have lasted for a mere 40 seconds from
the time Urrea spotted them man until the incident was over.
Without thinking, Urrea jumped into action and ran from her patrol
vehicle and grabbed hold of the man.
When it became clear that the chair would not be coming off of
the railroad tracks ,Urrea grabbed hold of him and began pulling
him off of the chair. The chair fell and it appears that urea lost
her grip as she went backwards.
As she attempted to reengage her grip, the train struck the
man’s legs and she fell backwards. The man was taken to the
hospital where he is being treated for the leg injury. Thankfully
he is expected to recover.
Urrea told
CBS News:
“To me, I didn’t think the train was still a ways
away. But, as I got up to him, I grabbed on to him, I can see the
train just approaching and it was going pretty fast. I just was
like, I got to get him off of the tracks.â€
Urrea recounted when she fell as the train swept by, she heard
a noise which sounded like something was struck.
“When I fell to the ground and I heard the noise like
the train had crashed into something, my initial thought was I
didn’t get to him on time.â€
Thankfully, she quickly realized that she had saved the man’s
life.
“That’s when you start thinking, ‘Okay this
could’ve happened and that could’ve happened,’ Just like I
said, all of the different scenarios that go through your head just
start pouring in,†Urrea said.
Thankfully for the man in this case, Urrea was there, and like
the vast majority of police officers in this nation, ready to serve
at a moments notice.
There was no time for Urrea to think of the possibilities or
plan on how to save the man, only time enough to act, without
giving her wellbeing any thought.
Acts like this occur throughout the United States on a daily
basis, only, most of them are not noticed. It can be acts as
simple as a police
officer buying a kid he did not know a cookie in McDonalds,
only to be killed immediately by a criminal who had driven up
beside him at a traffic light.
Or officers protecting members of Black Lives Matter in
Texas when a lone gunman went on a rampage to kill as many
police officers as they could. One person from that scene
recounted how officers laid on top of she and her children so they
would be safe from the bullets he fired as she watched an officer
shot in front of her.
You see, we in America are supposed to believe, at least since
May of 2020, that police officers are all evil, vile, racist beings
who only wish to do harm to people of color. Regardless of how
many times facts have been thrown out by
LET and other sources that completely debunks that claim,
people still believe the lie.
However, police officers in the United States are always there
when you need them, sometimes, in this man’s case, in times that
you may not realize it. And, in this case, Urrea was there,
willing, and able to save that man’s life. If she had not been
on duty that day, it is doubtful that man would still be alive.
Hero Utah officer shots and kills man who was holding a hostage
with a knife to his throat
SALT LAKE CITY, UT – It’s one of the more
nerve wracking pieces of bodycam footage we’ve seen in years.
Salt Lake City Police Officers were
dispatched on July 25th to a call about two people who were
stealing from Smith’s Grocery Store at 455 S 500 East.
The information they were given is that two males had been
inside the store stealing items, then began to fight each other out
in the parking lot.
911 reports from the store indicated that one of the men was
armed with a knife the size of a forearm.
As police arrived and tried to talk to the men, one of the
suspects grabbed the other and held him by the throat.
After several commands to drop the knife were ignored and he
became more agitated, fearing he would harm the other male,
officers opened fire, killing the suspect.
The man killed by police, Andrew Jacob Preece, was no stranger
to law enforcement.
According to the
Desert News, Preece had numerous felony and misdemeanor charges
against him since 2005. Recently, after a charge of retail theft,
he was ordered to attend a Mental Health Court Program
and recently graduated.
Persons who are accepted into this program must first have their
cases and mental health status reviewed by the state prosecutor’s
office to see if they qualify.
Once that step is completed, they are referred by a therapist to
Wasatch Mental Health. Those who qualify are given a case manager,
a therapist and a medical doctor (if needed).
Treatment plans are made for a minimum of a year, but, the
courts can adjust those dates if needed.
On July 25th, this graduate of the Mental Health Court, joined
with another person and decided to steal items from the Smith’s
Grocery Store. For some unknown reason, Preece and his accomplice
began arguing and fighting in the store and parking lot.
An employee of the store who called 911 said that they believed
that the pair was intoxicated and had a hard time walking
straight.
They then said that they noticed that one of them had a knife on
them and that they “keep turning around like they’re going to
come back into the store, and they keep looking over here.â€
As the officers arrived, they made contact with the pair as they
were walking down a sidewalk (as seen on the officer’s body
cameras). The first arriving officer’s camera clearly shows
Preece holding a knife to the back of the man in front of him while
holding onto the man.
The officer orders Preece to drop the knife and he refuses.
The officer then warns Preece to drop the knife or he will Tase
him with his Taser.
“I will tase you, stop right there.â€
Again, his orders were refused by Preece who continued walking
with the knife to the man.
Preece momentarily stops and grabs hold of the man in front of
him and holds a knife to his throat. The officer, now having
Preece at gun point, tries to get him to drop the knife to no
avail. The officer alerts a nearby female officer notifying her
that Preece had a hostage.
The female officer, now seeing what is occurring, also gives
several commands to Preece to drop the knife and again, Preece
refuses. The female officer practically begs Preece to drop the
knife, saying:
“Dude, it’s not worth it, I guarantee it dude, I
promise you.â€
Officers continued to try to get Preece to drop the knife and
stop his advances. Preece repeatedly ignored all of their commands
and continued to hold the man with a knife to his throat. Officers
had a split second decision to make, hesitate and Preece could slit
the man’s throat, or take action and ensure that the hostage
lived.
Thankfully for the hostage, officers saw an opening and began to
fire at Preece. Even when the first rounds initially struck
Preece, he still refused to drop the knife or step away from the
hostage.
Unfortunately, the officers had no choice but to continue firing
in order to stop the threat and prevent the murder of the
hostage.
The hostage was able to escape and officers immediately started
life saving efforts on Preece. Unfortunately, their efforts failed
and Preece died as a result of the shooting he caused.
Preece’s
family was interviewed, and according to KSL-TV, they said:
“We feel that the actions taken in this altercation
was unnecessary. Andrew was not in his right state of mind, but he
never wanted to hurt anyone. He had a history with law enforcement
but that doesn’t make him in any way less of a
person.
This could have been prevented by taking a few extra
minutes or hour to talk him down if that’s what it would
take.
In our opinion it did not look like a hostage situation,
rather Andrew leaning on his friend for support because it appeared
that he was in some way hurt.â€
Now, it is understandable that Preece’s family is in denial
and is hurting. After all, everyone involved in this situation
wanted a better outcome, especially the officers.
However, when it comes to that split second choice and ensuring
officers can at least save one life as opposed to waiting for
someone to take a life, the officer’s had no choice in the
matter, they had to act.
The shooting, as all police officer involved shootings, will be
reviewed by an outside investigator to determine if the shooting
was lawful or not. Judging by the video, it certainly appears to
be justified.
Active shooter on Kansas bridge gets taken out by hero soldier:
“Saved countless lives.â€
May 27, 2020 – LEAVENWORTH, KS – He’s
being hailed a hero.
On Wednesday, a soldier from Fort Leavenworth stopped an active
shooter on a bridge in Kansas – and he’s being credited with
having “saved countless livesâ€.
It happened on the Centennial Bridge on Wednesday. The incident
started around 11 a.m. local time after police got reports of shots
fired on the bridge.
The bridge spans over the Missouri River and connects
Leavenworth to Platte County, Missouri.
The Kansas City Star reported that according to witnesses, the
shooter stopped his car about halfway along the bridge.
KMBC reports that he then began to open fire on random vehicles
with both a pistol and a rifle.
“There was an active duty soldier assigned to Fort
Leavenworth waiting in traffic behind the event who saw the event
unfold and determined it was an active shooter,†Leavenworth
Police Chief Patrick Kitchens said to the local media.
“The soldier intervened by striking the shooter with
his vehicle, causing him to be critically injured, ending the
encounter with the active shooter and likely saving countless
lives.â€
According to
KCTV, there was a second active-duty soldier from Fort
Leavenworth who was shot and seriously injured – in addition to a
civilian being hurt in a crash on the bridge that happened during
the incident.
KCTV reported that both victims are in serious but stable
condition at the hospital.
Chief Kitchens said that although they don’t know what caused
the shooter to open fire, they do know he was a Platte County
resident.
“There doesn’t appear to be a target,†the chief
told reporters. “The person was simply, randomly firing at
vehicles as they passed by.â€
We have not yet received word who the gunman, the victims or the
soldier who stopped him were.
It’s the second such hero story we’ve reported this
week.
The first was out of Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
At about 7:00 p.m. on May 25th, police in Fort Lauderdale were
alerted to an active shooter situation taking place on the fourth
floor of an apartment building within the Victoria Park
neighborhood. The suspect was said to be firing from the apartment
building down onto the street near 14th Avenue and Sixth
Street.
#DEVELOPING: Police have stopped an active shooter at an
apartment building in Fort Lauderdale after, officials said, the
gunman fired in the direction of people from a balcony. He was
taken to the hospital with an injury that is not life-threatening.
https://t.co/6XMAlJCN5w— WSVN 7 News (@wsvn)
May 26, 2020
Luckily,
one well-placed shot by a responding officer stopped the
threat.
The yet-to-be identified suspect was shot by a Fort Lauderdale
Police officer in the stomach reportedly, after numerous calls came
in that a gunman was firing a weapon toward the street from an
elevated position.
Police Chief Rick Maglione stated that the officer involved was
flagged down near the scene at around the same time calls were
coming in about the active situation:
“We were simultaneously receiving calls into 911 that
someone was firing a gun about the same time that we got flagged
down.â€
While the suspect was firing down upon the street, a Hertz
delivery van was said to have been hit multiple times. Aside from
the damaged van, there was no reported injury stemming from the
suspect’s gunfire.
Jacob Lapp, a local resident in the area where the scene played
out, spoke about what he witnessed while the events were
unfolding:
“I just heard a pop, came outside, and then all of a
sudden the cop car turned around the corner. I saw the flashes
inside, came out and cops screamed at us to get into the
house.â€
Fort Lauderdale police say one
of its officers was forced to fire at a man who was shooting at
other people from the balcony of his apartment. @FLPD411https://t.co/8fBfwTHy4B— CBS4 Miami (@CBSMiami)
May 26, 2020
Chief Maglione remarked on the marksmanship of the officer that
fired at the suspect that evening, noting that it only took one
single shot from the officer for the suspect to be hit:
“We shot one time, up from the ground to the fourth
floor.â€
Overall, the chief was glad that there weren’t any fatalities
that resulted from the incident:
“The officers’ response was quick, and thankfully,
no innocent bystanders, no police officers were injured, and
hopefully, the subject makes a full recovery as
well.â€
The suspect was said to have been
transferred over to the Broward Health Medical Center. His
wound was described as being non-life-threatening.
The Florida Department of Law Enforcement is handling the
investigation at this point, and there’s been no mention yet of
what pending charges the suspect may be facing in this matter.
Law Enforcement Today has
recently obtained updates regarding the active shooter
situation that was neutralized earlier in May at Naval Air Station
Corpus Christi in Texas.
On May 21st, an “Arab male†showed up to the Naval Air
Station gate and started shooting.
A Navy security team killed the man. The FBI took over the
investigation at the time, and initially didn’t release any
further details released regarding the man’s identity.
However, two law enforcement sources tied to the investigation
have identified the shooter as 20-year-old Adam Alsahli. Officials
say that he was a Syrian born man that eventually became a resident
within the United States. The preliminary investigation suggests
that the shooter may have been a supporter of the Salafi-jihadist
ideology.
One female NSF police officer sailor was injured in the
shooting.
In a statement, the Navy said:
“The sailor is in good condition and is expected to be
released later today.â€
#BREAKING Active shooter reported at Naval Air Station Corpus
Christihttps://t.co/ix6yZGxq1m— ABC13 Houston (@abc13houston)
May 21, 2020
The sailor was reportedly wearing
a protective vest, which saved her from worse injury.
Investigators believe they may have located several social media
accounts that were once controlled by the now-deceased Alsahli.
Some of the postings present within these accounts showed support
towards the likes of ISIS and Qaeda.
The U.S. Navy is investigating
after a shooter was ‘neutralized’ at Naval Air Station – Corpus
Christi. pic.twitter.com/IfLYXq9jK3— KBTX News (@KBTXNews)
May 21, 2020
USNI news reported:
“Naval Air Station Corpus Christi is home to the four
squadrons of Training Air Wing Four, which uses Truax Field on base
and outlying airfields. Navy, Marine Corps, Coast Guard and foreign
student pilots train at the base.
“Naval Air Station Corpus Christi also houses the
Corpus Christi Army Depot which serves as the primary maintenance
depot for Department of Defense rotary-wing aircraft. The U.S.
Customs and Border Protection Service also operates from Naval Air
Station Corpus Christi.â€
The FBI is investigating the
shooting Thursday morning at Naval Air Station Corpus Christi that
forced the Texas base to lock down and left a female sailor
injured, according to Navy officials. https://t.co/YR9Il8ENyQ— Stars and Stripes (@starsandstripes)
May 21, 2020
The FBI noted that once more information is gathered and
substantiated, then they’ll release that information to the
public.
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Hero officer risks her own life to save man in a wheelchair stuck
on railroad tracks appeared first on Law Enforcement
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