Officer Justin Garner was criticized on national TV in 2009 for not waiting for backup, but he did the right thing without fear of the possibly deadly consequences. A deranged gunman was murdering residents at the Carthage rest home and he was the only officer on duty at the time. He got the call at 10:00 on a Sunday morning and within 5 minutes of the call, he confronted the gunman. God bless him for his bravery.
en.wikipedia.org
Robert Stewart, 45, dressed in a bib overall, arrived at the parking lot of the nursing home just before 10:00 a.m., where he fired several shots at the empty car of his estranged wife, shattering its windows.[citation needed] Stewart then fired at the car of visitor Michael Lee Cotten as he was driving into the parking lot, hitting him in the left shoulder. Cotten, who later stated that Stewart was "very calm...very deliberate" during the shooting,[5] managed to run into the building and warn the people inside of the gunman.[citation needed] Police received the first emergency calls at approximately 10:00 a.m. and the only police officer on duty in Carthage, 25-year-old Cpl. Justin Garner, was dispatched to the scene.[6]
Leaving a camouflaged Remington 597 .22 caliber rifle atop a Jeep Cherokee, Stewart entered the nursing home armed with a .357-caliber handgun, a .22 Magnum semi-automatic pistol, and a 12-gauge Winchester 1300 shotgun and went down the hall, apparently searching for his estranged wife, Wanda Neal. She had left him three weeks earlier because of his abusive behavior, drinking, violent temper, and possessiveness. She had been reassigned to the Alzheimer's unit that morning. When she heard the shooting, she hid in a locked and passcode-protected bathroom.[7]
Upon realizing that his wife wasn't where she usually worked, Steward headed to the area for Alzheimer's patients, which was secured by passcode-protected doors. As he walked through the hallways of the nursing home, Stewart killed seven residents—two of them in their wheelchairs—while the staff tried to move other patients to safety. He shot and killed nurse Jerry Avant, who tried to stop the gunman.[8][9] Avant was the only employee killed.
Police Cpl. Garner confronted Stewart in the hallway at about 10:05 a.m. After refusing several orders to drop his weapon, Stewart lowered his shotgun and fired a shot at Garner, hitting him in the leg.[10] Garner returned fire and hit Stewart in the chest, incapacitating him.[10] Years later, Garner recalled that the wounded Stewart had said only: "Kill me, kill me."[10]
At the end of the shooting, six people were dead at the scene; five others, including Stewart, were taken to a nearby hospital, where two of the wounded died the same day.[1]
Jonathan Garner grew up in a local Baptist church in our area.
It took officers more than an hour to enter the Columbine H.S. after the first reports of gunfire came in. It took officers at Columbine more than 3-1/2 hours to remove an injured teacher who subsequently died on the way to the hospital.
By the time the Texas gunman was shot dozens of local and state officers had gathered at the school and there were 80 border control officers at the scene by the time they went in and stopped the shooting more than 40 minutes after the first officers arrived at the scene. There was certainly no fearless Christian Officer like Justin Garner there to show them how to get the job done.
Carthage nursing home shooting - Wikipedia
Robert Stewart, 45, dressed in a bib overall, arrived at the parking lot of the nursing home just before 10:00 a.m., where he fired several shots at the empty car of his estranged wife, shattering its windows.[citation needed] Stewart then fired at the car of visitor Michael Lee Cotten as he was driving into the parking lot, hitting him in the left shoulder. Cotten, who later stated that Stewart was "very calm...very deliberate" during the shooting,[5] managed to run into the building and warn the people inside of the gunman.[citation needed] Police received the first emergency calls at approximately 10:00 a.m. and the only police officer on duty in Carthage, 25-year-old Cpl. Justin Garner, was dispatched to the scene.[6]
Leaving a camouflaged Remington 597 .22 caliber rifle atop a Jeep Cherokee, Stewart entered the nursing home armed with a .357-caliber handgun, a .22 Magnum semi-automatic pistol, and a 12-gauge Winchester 1300 shotgun and went down the hall, apparently searching for his estranged wife, Wanda Neal. She had left him three weeks earlier because of his abusive behavior, drinking, violent temper, and possessiveness. She had been reassigned to the Alzheimer's unit that morning. When she heard the shooting, she hid in a locked and passcode-protected bathroom.[7]
Upon realizing that his wife wasn't where she usually worked, Steward headed to the area for Alzheimer's patients, which was secured by passcode-protected doors. As he walked through the hallways of the nursing home, Stewart killed seven residents—two of them in their wheelchairs—while the staff tried to move other patients to safety. He shot and killed nurse Jerry Avant, who tried to stop the gunman.[8][9] Avant was the only employee killed.
Police Cpl. Garner confronted Stewart in the hallway at about 10:05 a.m. After refusing several orders to drop his weapon, Stewart lowered his shotgun and fired a shot at Garner, hitting him in the leg.[10] Garner returned fire and hit Stewart in the chest, incapacitating him.[10] Years later, Garner recalled that the wounded Stewart had said only: "Kill me, kill me."[10]
At the end of the shooting, six people were dead at the scene; five others, including Stewart, were taken to a nearby hospital, where two of the wounded died the same day.[1]
Jonathan Garner grew up in a local Baptist church in our area.
It took officers more than an hour to enter the Columbine H.S. after the first reports of gunfire came in. It took officers at Columbine more than 3-1/2 hours to remove an injured teacher who subsequently died on the way to the hospital.
By the time the Texas gunman was shot dozens of local and state officers had gathered at the school and there were 80 border control officers at the scene by the time they went in and stopped the shooting more than 40 minutes after the first officers arrived at the scene. There was certainly no fearless Christian Officer like Justin Garner there to show them how to get the job done.
