Police chief praises hero neighbor who saved little boy during deadly shooting
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STOCKTON, CA (KOVR) — Stockton Police Chief Eric Jones is praising the Good Samaritan who risked his own safety, to save the little boy caught in the middle of the shooting that left an officer and a suspect dead Tuesday.
That hero is choosing to stay out of the public eye for now. He is a 30-year-old man who lives down the block from the scene of the deadly confrontation.
Cellphone video captured the intense scene. It shows a suspect holding his own 8-year-old boy by the neck, then strangling him, before the hero neighbor runs into the frame and tackles the suspect, freeing the boy.
Police Chief Eric Jones called the man up because he wanted to thank him.
“I am absolutely amazed by the courage,” Chief Jones said. “The courage to engage in a clearly, very quickly evolving, and extremely dangerous situation,” Jones said, “I just think that is absolutely heroic to become involved in that, to save that child’s life.”
The heroic moment was at the center of a deadly sequence. Police say the suspect Lance Lowe had already shot and killed Officer Jimmy Inn. Moments later, Lowe was also shot and killed by a different officer.
One day after the deadly shootings, bulletholes and evidence markers can be seen on the home where it unfolded. Neighbors could be seen examining the front of the home. The terrifying encounter has left its mark in many ways.
“I can’t help thinking about it; I had a nightmare last night,” Marquita Ealy said, “just from watching then video footage.”
Officer Inn was well-known on this block for stopping and talking to children.
“He was one of them types he would always wave, he would always bring the kids over and give them a police sticker and all of that,” Dino Cole said.
A deadly shooting leaving an officer and suspect dead.
That suspect’s own 8-year-old boy surviving, thanks to the fast action of a hero, who now has earned the police chief’s praise.
While that hero does my want his name out yet, we will likely learn it soon, as Stockton police work out a plan to honor him.
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