A shooting in New Jersey left two police officers wounded. One woman went above and beyond to shield the officer and assist him as he was lying on the ground bleeding.
According to CBS, Mayor Raj J. Baraka said after the incident, “The woman … got out of her car and tried to stop the bleeding of an officer and helped drag him safety in the middle of what might have been a gunfight.”
“Our residents in Newark have shown several times over and over again that they are willing to put themselves in the way of police and harm,” Baraka went on to say according to The New York Times.
The woman who did not want to be revealed spoke with WNET-TV saying, “That’s who I am- that’s what I do. I try to help anybody who needs my help,” she said when speaking of the incident.
Baraka said that suspect started shooting after police had closed in on him for an earlier Oct. 28 shooting, according to CNN.
“They gave him instructions. There was a brief altercation. The gentleman pulled a gun out, shot two police officers at close range. Gunshot was returned – fire was returned. The gentleman retreated into the building,” Baraka said.
In a disturbingly graphic video posted by a Twitter account called TheBlueMagazine, you can see the woman walking to the trunk of her car to get a towel and then trying to stop the bleeding that was coming from Officer Johnny Aquino. The downed officer was wounded in the neck and shoulder. Officer Jabrill Paul was shot in the leg.
The brave woman said, “I wasn’t even thinking about myself. I just put him [Aquino] first.”
“And I wasn’t even thinking about bullets, the only thing I saw was him. And that’s what I was focused on, saving him,” she continued.
The heroic woman not only helped to save the day of that officer but also works as a nurse with the mentally ill. She said it was “natural for me to go help someone. That’s what I do.”
“I would want someone to do that for me, my family, my daughter, my husband, my sister,” she said.
As reported by CNN,
“The officers shot are in stable condition and are expected to make a full and complete recovery, Stephens said. One of the officers was shot in the leg and has a small fracture, Newark Mayor Ras Baraka said Tuesday. The other officer was shot in his shoulder and the bullet grazed his neck, Baraka said. Both were in stable condition, he said.”
Police have since arrested Kendall Howard, 30, in connection with the shootings. He faces two counts of attempted murder, along with additional counts of unlawful possession of a weapon and unlawful possession of a weapon for unlawful purposes, according to CNN.
Although the woman who intervened was not hurt, her car has a souvenir — a bullet hole in the hood.
When asked if she would do what she did again, she replied, “Of course, I would do it again. That’s who I am.”
