Bodycam video shows officer rescuing 2-year-old boy shot in Florida home
By Robbin Simmons, Rubén Rosario
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JACKSONVILLE, Florida (WSVN) — Newly released body camera video captured the tense moments when a patrol officer responded to a Jacksonville home moments after, authorities said, a bullet flew through a window and struck a 2-year-old boy.
Moments before Officer Walter Umland with the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office responded to the young victim’s residence on Dec. 11, investigators said, officers were conducting a traffic stop nearby. Then they heard gunshots.
In a recent interview, Umland described what he heard.
“I heard 10 to 15 gunshots going off. It sounded like an exchange of gunshots between at least two parties,” he said. “Myself and my lieutenant went to the immediate area where we heard the gunshots, and I could hear screaming from inside a residence.”
Authorities said multiple shots were fired from outside the house. One struck a window and hit the toddler’s leg while he was watching TV.
“Sheriff’s office, sheriff’s office,” Umland is heard saying as knocked on the front door of the home.
“Please help me!” a family member is heard saying.
It was an unimaginable situation for Umland when he found the boy badly bleeding. Knowing every second counted, the officer decided not to wait for paramedics to arrive and took matters into his own hands.
“Open up. We’re going straight to the hospital,” Umland is heard saying in the bodycam video.
“I put on some gloves, I ran outside with the child while holding pressure,” he said during the interview, “and I told additional officers that I needed to take the child to the hospital.”
“Go, go, go, go, go,” Umland is heard telling another officer after he got into a patrol car with the boy.
The child arrived at the hospital in time for doctors to stabilize his condition, and he survived the injury.
Umland was later awarded a life-saving medal for his quick actions.
He said he pushed himself into the serious situation when he heard what was going on.
“I ran in there and handed the child over to the medical professionals, and I just told them there was a 2-year-old with gunshot wounds,” he said.
“‘You’re OK, you’re OK, you’re OK!’” Umland is heard telling the boy as he carried him into the hospital.
While the shooting happened more than eight months ago, no arrests have yet been made.
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