Seventeen year old girl helps put tourniquet on police officer after shooting
By Peyton Headlee
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EXCELSIOR SPRINGS, Missouri (KMBC) — Clay County Deputies spent hours at the scene talking to witnesses after an officer involved shooting Saturday night in Excelsior Springs.
One of the witnesses, 17-year-old Ava Donegan, put a tourniquet on the Excelsior Springs Police Officer who had been shot in the shoulder and wrist.
Donegan was in Excelsior Springs to go thrift shopping with her boyfriend. The two were stopped at a red light at the intersection of Route 10 and Corum Road when they found themselves in the middle of a crime scene.
Two EPSD officers tried to pull a driver over wanted on a warrant for assaulting a law enforcement officer. The driver shot one of the officers in the shoulder and the wrist. The second officer returned fire, shooting the suspect in the head.
“I saw the cop get out of the car and then I saw him get shot a few times,” Donegan said. “After that, we both ducked, and he started calling the police.”
Her car was just in front of the shooter’s truck at the intersection.
“Somehow, I blinked my eye and the cop who was shot was right in front of my car. He was asking me to get out and help put his tourniquet on,” she said. “He told me that it was completely numb, and his hand was completely limp.”
Donegan said she helped the officer put his tourniquet on, get his vest off, and helped him use his radio to call it in.
“Somehow there’s blood all over my hands. Somehow there’s blood on my car,” Donegan said. “When I realized he needed help, it all was instinct.”
Donegan said her dad is an ICU nurse and she wants to go into pre-med, so she was familiar with tourniquets and how to use them.
“I’m just glad that he is okay. I think that gives me a good peace of mind,” she said.
Prior to Saturday night, Donegan said she had never even heard gunshots. She said the whole situation was scary, but she is glad that she was able to help.
The officer had a second surgery Sunday and is expected to be okay.
The suspect, 64-year-old Carl Carrel, died from his injuries.
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