The Santa Cruz (CA) firefighters caught in the crossfire that ended the life of a cop killing suspect are speaking out for the first time, reports NBC Bay Area News.
Jerry Freeman’s crew was the first on the scene just moments after the two police officers were shot and killed.
“We were still surrounded by people with guns and shields,” Freeman said. “As a fire captain, that is not an environment that you should put your crew in, but it was special circumstances.”
Special because the man and woman at his feet were also in uniform, something no one, not even the dispatchers told him about ahead of time.
As Santa Cruz firefighters responded to North Branciforte Avenue, they heard this on the radio: “There’s two patients, victims of gunshot wounds and stage in the area. Scene is not secure.”
“We didn’t know it was the officers until we arrived on scene, until we were physically standing next to them,” Freeman said.
Firefighter Clayton Ogden was in the thick of it, standing next to a woman who fell to the ground.
Instead of leaving her behind, Ogden chose to cover her with his own body.
“At some point she tired to get up then another hail of gun fire started, so I just told her to stay down, don’t move,” Ogden said. “At that point, it was probably the safest place for both of us to be.”
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