A selfless hero.

Name of Hero: Bruce.

Hero City: I sorry I cant Say.

Submitted by: Sean

Well, this will be the second time I have submitted. I feel compelled to tell this story as the hero of whom I speak placed himself in harms ways for my sake.

I am a police officer in a small city in Western Canada. Towards the end of shift this last summer a call of a disturbance came across the radio at a local convince store. I was backing a ticket I had just written in a parking lot near by. The call quickly evolved into an armed robbery.

Subsequently I requested dispatch clear me from my traffic stop and send me the call. While en-route It became clear that the robbery had become an armed robbery with a gun and that the suspect was still inside the store. As I approached the area I tuned off my light bar and entered the parking lot from the opposite side of the side where the windows were. As I pulled into the parking lot a fellow officer was screaming on the radio he had eyes on the suspect and that he suspect was now pointing a gun at him. I quickly made my way to a window opposite of where the officer was, knowing I would be nearly 180 degrees to him and that the gunman would have is back to me. As I looked into the window I saw the gunman holding a clerk at gun point.

The gunman transitioned his weapon between the clerk and the other officer on scene . As the gunman walked backward with the clerk at gun point, he increasingly became closer to me, within 10 feet of the window. At this point I decided to fire my weapon and stop the threat posed to me and, at the time, an unknown amount of hostages inside the store. As I began to pull the trigger on my Sig, another clerk jumped from behind a counter directly into my line of sight. Thank Christ, literally, I stopped the pressure on the trigger and did not fire my weapon. I attempted to regain another sight picture of the gunman with negative success. Not being in a suitable cover position after that I retreated to a mid-size tree for cover. I was now about 30-40 feet from the window. Certainly not a desirable distance for a gun fight with a pistol.

At this point I looked to my left as I heard someone yell, “I’m going to ‘Sean’….” I then observed Bruce running across the parking lot, in plain view of the gunman, toward my position. Bruce had a carbine rifle with him at the time. Bruce took position with me and we remained there until the gunman was talked down by a hostage inside the store and eventually came outside and was arrested.

The point I want to make is that Bruce, literally, placed his life on the line as he ran to my position. He knew that I only had a pistol and that if a fire fight broke out I was seriously outgunned. That guy ran his ass across an open parking lot while a gunman had him in plain view because he knew I was in jeopardy, being in the position I was with the fire power I had. I have never thanked him directly for this. I should. I will.

Since then I have been to many calls with Bruce. This guy is the guy you want to be with when bullets fly and blood hits the ground. Bruce is the “typical cop”. He does what he does cause its hard wired into him. And he loves it. He put his friggin life on the line to cover my ass. Amazing. I only pray someday soon I can repay the debt.

If someone reads this story and knows of any awards, rewards etc for such hero, please reply. I would love to get him recognized for what he had done, and is doing.

Sean.