MARCH 3, 2015
ST. CHARLES COUNTY, MO.
A man involved in a car crash pointed a gun at a paramedic
responding to the scene, fired a shot, and was found dead in his vehicle after
police arrived.
Paramedics from St. Charles County Ambulance District were dispatched Sunday around 7:45 p.m. to a motor vehicle crash on Highway 61, according to a press release from the service.
Battalion Chief Jeremy Hollrah was in the area of the crash and the first responder on the scene. He saw several vehicles pulled to the side of the road, and a black pickup truck off the roadway, resting at an odd angle on the edge of a wooded area alongside the road.
Witnesses told Hollrah the driver of the truck had exited the vehicle. As Hollrah approached the driver got back into his truck, and appeared to searching for something. Hollrah asked him several times to exit the vehicle; the driver did not comply, then pointed a gun at the paramedic. Hollrah backed away and the driver fired a shot.
Unsure who the shot had been fired at, Hollrah and other paramedics and firefighters who had arrived on the scene and were treating other patients involved in the accident ushered the patients and bystanders to safety behind parked vehicles.
Wentzville police arrived shortly after, and discovered the man in the truck died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
“The circumstances surrounding this incident bring a stark reality into focus – the fact that even the most seemingly routine of calls have the potential to become dangerous for emergency responders, said St. Charles County Ambulance District Chief Taz Meyer, “We’re thankful that our Battalion Chief, paramedics and [fire and law enforcement] colleagues on-scene were not harmed in this tragic incident, and applaud their actions in getting patients and bystanders to safety.”
Paramedics from St. Charles County Ambulance District were dispatched Sunday around 7:45 p.m. to a motor vehicle crash on Highway 61, according to a press release from the service.
Battalion Chief Jeremy Hollrah was in the area of the crash and the first responder on the scene. He saw several vehicles pulled to the side of the road, and a black pickup truck off the roadway, resting at an odd angle on the edge of a wooded area alongside the road.
Witnesses told Hollrah the driver of the truck had exited the vehicle. As Hollrah approached the driver got back into his truck, and appeared to searching for something. Hollrah asked him several times to exit the vehicle; the driver did not comply, then pointed a gun at the paramedic. Hollrah backed away and the driver fired a shot.
Unsure who the shot had been fired at, Hollrah and other paramedics and firefighters who had arrived on the scene and were treating other patients involved in the accident ushered the patients and bystanders to safety behind parked vehicles.
Wentzville police arrived shortly after, and discovered the man in the truck died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
“The circumstances surrounding this incident bring a stark reality into focus – the fact that even the most seemingly routine of calls have the potential to become dangerous for emergency responders, said St. Charles County Ambulance District Chief Taz Meyer, “We’re thankful that our Battalion Chief, paramedics and [fire and law enforcement] colleagues on-scene were not harmed in this tragic incident, and applaud their actions in getting patients and bystanders to safety.”
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CRASH VICTIM COMMITTED SUICIDE IN MISSOURI
MARCH 2, 2015
WENTZVILLE, MO.
Highway 61, near North Pointe Prairie Road, in St. Charles
County has reopened after a crash victim committed suicide.
Kyle Gaines, director of community relations for the St.
Charles County Ambulance District, says paramedics were called to the area for
a report of a truck accident. Battalion Chief Jeremy Hollrah was in the area
and was the first to arrive on-scene.
Gaines says witnesses told Hollrah the driver had exited his
truck. According to Gaines, as Hollrah approached the truck, the driver got
back into the truck and appeared to be searching for something. Hollrah told
the driver to get out of the truck due to safety concerns, but Gaines says the
driver did not comply with the request.
The driver then pointed a gun at Hollrah, Gaines says, and
the driver then fired a shot. Hollrah
and other emergency personnel at the scene pushed patients and bystanders
behind parked vehicles because they were unsure where the gunfire was aimed.
The driver was then determined to have sustained a self-inflicted
gunshot wound. His name has not been released.