Life Saving Incident
January 6, 2022
Maryland
Somerset County
Princess Anne
On Jan. 6 Officer Parks was dispatched to what was reported to be a cardiac arrest. He arrived to find a man on the ground in the parking lot bleeding profusely from a gunshot wound to his left leg.
Officer Parks applied pressure to the wound, and managed to take charge of the scene to order people away as at that time it was unknown if there was an active shooter still in the area.
An officer from UMES arrived and took over applying pressure to the victim’s leg so Officer Parks could check for other injuries and begin to investigate as EMS was enroute. A loaded .380 semi-automatic handgun was found in the victim’s pants, and Officer Parks removed the weapon, rendered it safe, and secured it in his vehicle.
Shortly after the arrival of EMS it was learned a second gunshot victim, a juvenile, was injured and a second ambulance was called. The juvenile identified the man as the shooter.
For his actions, Police Chief Robert Wink presented Officer Parks with the Life Saving Award during the April town meeting.
The victim “was losing a significant amount of blood,” the chief said. “It was later learned that had (Officer Parks) not applied direct pressure on that gentleman’s leg he would have expired in the parking lot. It was a direct hit to the femoral artery, so his immediate action saved his life.”
The history of law enforcement in the United States is a long and wonderful history of bravery. This website is dedicated to documenting the heroic deeds of law enforcement officers throughout the United States who have either given or risked their lives to save others. There are many stories of bravery and heroism for many who are considered first responders. However, it is those in law enforcement who are most likely to be the first to arrive upon a location requiring life saving acts engaging dangerous hostage takers, running into burning buildings/vehicles, providing first aid to seriously injured victims, saving near drowning victims and much more are what the women and men of law enforcement do routinely and at many times, great peril to their own safety.
It is our mission to document the history of lives saved by those dedicated women and men in law enforcement. To share with others the dramatic deeds of those individuals who are the first, first responders. It is so important for our citizens to understand that law "enforcement" is not always about enforcing the law but rather being there when our citizens need us.
It is to this end we are dedicated to promoting documentation regarding the history of law enforcement and the lives they have saved.
