A Year Later, Miss. Responders Reflect on Police Shootings

Dec. 23--TUPELO -- Today marks the first anniversary of the shootings that rocked not just the Tupelo Police Department, but first responders across the area.

"Whenever it is brought up, we all get flustered, even though it has been a year," said paramedic Joan Hinz, one of the first on the scene. "We knew them. We worked hand in hand with them."

"EMS, fire, police ... we are all family. We see each other on a regular basis and we all know each other," said paramedic Lacrisha Sample. "That's what makes it so hard."

On Dec. 23, 2013, an armed bank robbery suspect opened fire on two policemen just south of Crosstown around 3 p.m. Sgt. Gale Stauffer was killed. Officer Joseph Maher was shot in the head and continues to recover. The suspect was killed five days later by police while attempting to rob a bank in Phoenix, Arizona.

Just another day

There was nothing unusual about the day. It was the Monday before Christmas. The streets were full as people tried to finish their holiday shopping.

"It was a nice work day. There was nothing out of the ordinary," said paramedic Jason Clark.

Police Chief Bart Aguirre was recovering from knee surgery the week before but still came in to work to take care of a few things. Fire Chief Thomas Walker was at the mall helping his wife pick out gifts for their two sons.

Aguirre was heading home when the call of an officer down came over his radio.

"From then on, everything went dark," said Aguirre. "It was total chaos. That was the most stressful moment in my life. I couldn't fathom that I was stuck in the middle of something like this."

While the police instantly knew officers had been shot, it took a while before fire and ambulance radios had that information.

"When I got the second page that an officer was down, I told my wife I had to go and just left her there in the store," said Walker.

Initial response

When the call went out of a shooting just south of Crosstown, both firefighters and paramedics rolled instantly. Firefighters responded from Station 1 downtown. The ambulance left from South Green Street.

"We had no idea a policeman was shot until we got on the scene," said fireman John Belk.

"We came down Main Street and when we turned south on Gloster, there was nothing but blue lights," said fireman Jacob Quarles. "We didn't know what was happening, but we knew it was bad."

Paramedics found a similar scene as they arrived from the south.

"When we topped the hill at McAlisters, all you could see were blue lights everywhere," said Hinz.

In shooting cases, a supervisor and a second ambulance are usually sent, just in case more help is needed. Supervisor Tammie Martin actually arrived on the scene first. Clark and EMT Kelley Burleson were in the second ambulance and heard on the radio it was a policeman shot.

"We were turning up Daybrite and one of the officers had stopped to block traffic," said Clark. "I looked in his eyes and they were already glassed over."

On the scene

When firemen and paramedics arrive at dangerous scenes, they normally have to wait for the police to give the all clear before approaching. For this incident, none of the first responders waited even though it was an active scene and the police had no idea if the shooter was still in the area.

"I felt the scene was safe," said Martin. "There were so many blue lights. And there was an officer with an assault rifle right by my side. If I moved, he moved. All I know was he had black shoes, tan pants and brown hair."

It was months later that Martin learned Lee County Sheriff Jim Johnson had ordered armed deputies to shadow the medics on the scene.

Amid the chaos, the firemen, medics and even an off-duty nurse knew what they had to do.

"We both got tunnel vision and went to work," said fireman Quarles. "We knew we had to get them secured, loaded in the ambulance and gone as soon as possible."

The ambulance crews arriving at first believed there was only one officer shot and began to work on Maher. Not knowing if they knew the fallen officer, the medics pushed emotions aside and went to work.

"Then we heard someone holler, 'We've got another one over here.' I thought it was the shooter," said Hinz. But when she got on the other side of the patrol car, she immediately recognized Stauffer.

A fireman and an emergency room nurse, who just happened to be stuck in traffic, were doing chest compressions on the fallen officer.

Six minutes

The first few minutes of medical attention can mean the difference. The medics were less than a mile away from the scene. And it was less than a mile back to the emergency room where more help was waiting.

Normally, one of the paramedics drives the ambulance back to the hospital. Firemen Quarles and Belk did whatever they could for Stauffer.

"One of the firemen jumped in the driver's seat, looked back and said, 'Y'all want me to drive?'" said Hinz.

The other fireman, the ER nurse, Hinz and Sample rode in the back of the ambulance, still doing everything they could for Stauffer.

"I had to fight back the tears in our truck," said Hinz. "We knew he had family."

Stauffer, 38, left a wife and two small children.

Martin, Clark and Burleson continued to work on Maher, tending his wounds and getting him loaded into the ambulance.

"I didn't even know the ambulance was moving until we turned off of Gloster," said Clark. "I felt the truck pitch as we turned onto Crossover Street."

The two ambulances were on the scene just six minutes before they started back to the hospital, where the trauma alert call had brought out a host of doctors, including a brain surgeon and a trauma surgeon.

"We were fortunate that it happened during normal business hours," said Clark, "because there were more doctors already at the hospital."

Glimmer of hope

As Martin and Clark rode in the back of the ambulance with Maher, they feared the worst for the 27-year-old officer with a gunshot wound to the head. At the time, they had no way of knowing the bullet had somehow missed his brain.

"He moved his left arm. That was the first movement we had seen," said Martin.

"We just looked at each other, smiled and never said a word," said Clark. "His eyes were open and I told him, 'We got you.' and prayed to God I wasn't lying."

The two medics stayed with their patient through the emergency room and back to CT where a quick brain scan showed Maher's brain was functioning normally.

"We were excited," said Martin. "(Emergency room Dr. Joe) Johnsey actually high-fived me. It was a good moment."

The joy that Maher would recover was tempered by the news that Stauffer did not make it.

Aftermath

The police, the firemen, the medics, the doctors, the nurses -- no one wanted to leave the hospital until everything was sorted out.

Martin stayed with Maher until around 1 a.m., nearly 10 hours after the initial call. The other medics had to resume their 12-hour shift that ended at 6 p.m. Hinz and Sample changed out of their blood-soaked uniforms, put on scrubs and went back to work. They had another call before the shift ended, but neither can recall what it was.

As things settled down, all involved began to realize the finality of the day.

"We think about (the possibility of dying) pretty often when we go out on dangerous fire calls," said Belk.

"Being a fireman can be dangerous, but it's nothing like the police," said Quarles. "I try not to think about things like that."

The four medics gathered at the end of the shift to get their heads together, before heading home to their families.

"That was the kind of call where you go home and just stop, hug your kid and sit down and play that video game with them -- that video game that you hate so much," said Burleson.

"You go home and you hold your spouse. You hold your kid," said Sample.

"We had just gotten our 4-year-old to sleep in her own bed," said Clark. "She slept with us that night."

As the supervisor, Martin's long day stretched into the wee hours of the morning. When she finally got back to her office, she found her husband waiting for her.

"My support system came to me," she said.

Ongoing recovery

Chief Aguirre said the shooting hit home with all of the officers on his force. Once the shooter was killed on the other side of the country, officers were able to settle down and deal with the trauma.

"Those were pretty dark days," said Aguirre. "We had a few officers who took it so hard that they had to take some time off to deal with things."

Most of the people involved continue to relive that day as little things keep reminding them.

"We relived it for quite a while," said Hinz. "It seems like every patient we picked up asked, 'Did you work with the cops?'"

To help the healing process begin, the city employees painted over the blood stains on South Gloster. While the evidence of the incident was no longer visible, the memory was.

"Every time I go down South Gloster, I think about it," said Martin.

"I don't go that way any more," said Hinz.

william.moore@journalinc.com

Copyright 2014 - Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal, Tupelo