Teen found herself in the middle of a crime scene—then relied on one lesson from her dad to save cop shot in front of her
The world that we live in calls us to be prepared for anything at any time. A 17-year-old woman named Ava Donegan was thrift shopping at Excelsior Springs, Missouri, when she found herself in the middle of a crime scene, KMBC 9 reported. An Excelsior Springs police officer was shot in a confrontation with a suspect. With the chaos and unprecedented situation, the young woman quickly recalled a simple lesson from her dad to help the injured officer. Despite the frantic worry and confusion at the moment, Donegan showed bravery and astuteness, rushing to the officer’s rescue, thus saving his life.
The scene was quite a terrifying one, with gunshots involved. The two officers confronted the suspect, who was charged with assaulting an officer. Another report from the outlet revealed that the suspect was identified as 65-year-old Carl Carrel. The officers were in two different vehicles and had initially approached Carrel in the parking lot. However, he pulled away and they had to follow until they were able to block him on the streets. The man got defensive and shot one of the officers in the shoulder and wrist. The second cop shot back in return, hitting the suspect in the head.
The suspect died on the spot. Sarah Boyd, a spokeswoman for the sheriff's office, noted that it was unfortunate that the officers had to fire gunshots and that the suspect lost his life. “No officer ever wants to have to do that. They don't want to have to use force like that. They don't want to have to hurt a member of the community. But it was a life-or-death situation, it appears in our initial investigation," she noted. “I saw the cop get out of the car and then I saw him get shot a few times,” Donegan recalled. The scene caused quite a fear among the civilians, including the 17-year-old and her boyfriend, who witnessed it all.
They immediately ducked when they saw gunshots being fired. Within moments, when Donegan blinked and opened her eyes, she saw the injured officer before her. “He told me that it was completely numb, and his hand was completely limp,” she recalled, adding that the officer asked her to help him. While she was terrified at the time, when the officer requested her help, she stepped in bravely. “Somehow, there's blood all over my hands. Somehow, there's blood on my car. When I realized he needed help, it was all instinct,” she remarked.
Donegan recounted a lesson her dad, Kevin Donegan, who is an ICU nurse, taught her, another interview revealed. She quickly took off the officer’s vest and tied a tourniquet on his injury to stop the bleeding. She followed by using the radio to get help from the officer. He is reported to have had a couple of surgeries and is expected to recover. Donegan credits her dad’s lesson for being able to help the officer efficiently. "I remember sitting on the couch and she showed me multiple times the tourniquet," she recalled. Her dad, too, said that the tourniquet is a "safe, simple and effective" technique to stop bleeding. Despite never having witnessed gunshots before, she exhibited bravery and courage that are worth applause. Speaking of her act, she said, “I'm just glad that he is okay. I think that gives me a good peace of mind.”