"We had citizens who not only said something but did something, they prevented him from further injury and possibly the loss of his life," said Chief Alonzo Thompson of the Spartanburg Police Department.
Gonzales said he was on his way to the gym, where he trains as a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu fighter, when he saw the officer chasing a man. He says when that man tripped and fell to the ground, the officer fell on top of him and the fight for control was on.
The former Marine and Vietnam veteran’s training kicked in when he saw the wounded officer. He knew not to attempt removing the knife.
“Actually, there were two customers that ran out and John Hurley was just faster and made it. As some eyewitnesses say, he took down the shooter,” said store manager Stephen Cohen.
He appears to oblige, and she slings the shotgun on her shoulder and she starts to take the man into custody. When she asked if he had any weapons in his possession, the video shows that he turns around, shoves her and wrestles with her before pushing her to the ground.
“This girl puts him in a chokehold and that’s what it took to take the guy down and to help that officer. I don’t know if the officer would have gone home to his family that night if that guy would’ve been able to get his gun,” explained witness Mark Davis.
“All my respect and gratitude goes out to these two men who took action when they saw a deputy under attack. It makes me proud to know that in Volusia County, our residents still have our deputies’ backs,” Sheriff Mike Chitwood said in a statement online.
Footage from a news helicopter showed that the driver of the tractor-trailer appeared to intentionally block the suspect.
The deputy, assigned to the Hesperia station, was shot in an Aldi parking lot and was airlifted a nearby trauma center, according to the department. A citizen reportedly found him in the parking lot and called in the "officer down" to dispatch using the officer's radio.
After a struggle and argument on the front porch, Swingle said he let his 4-month-old German Shepherd Keeper go after the suspect again. Swingle also retrieved his handgun and saw the suspect across the street trying to break into another house.
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