Oxford school shooting: Police officer’s post about holding dying victim’s hand goes viral
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An emotional firsthand account of what happened during the Oxford school shooting has gone viral after an Oakland County police officer described holding a victim’s hand.
The officer, who was not identified by the Oakland County Sheriff’s Office, was said to have written the firsthand account as part of his counselling – and was shared on Facebook.
Four students – Tate Myre, 16; Madisyn Baldwin, 17; 14-year-old Hana St Juliana and 17-year-old Justin Shilling – were fatally shot by, authorities say, fellow classmate, 15-year-old Ethan Crumbley, who has been charged for the 30 November attack.
The Oakland County officer wrote about being among 300 members of law enforcement who “raced to the High School willing to give up their lives without hesitation to stop the shooter” that day.
Explaining how he found himself in a bathroom, the Oakland County officer said he “found a young man who I later found out was Justin Shilling”, and described how he comforted the injured 17-year-old.
The sheriff’s office said Justin’s family allowed the account to be shared on Facebook as a way of helping members of the Oxford, Michigan, community process the trauma in the wake of the 30 November shooting.
“I want his parents to know that I held his hand and spoke to him until we could get him removed from the building and to the hospital,” the officer had written. “I wanted him to know in that moment that he wasn’t alone and that someone was with him.”
Justin was taken to hospital and died the following morning, with his family releasing a statement that said the student’s potential in life had been “boundless”, and that his death left “such a gaping hole in our family that we cannot conceive of life without him.”
As CNN reported, his co-workers meanwhile described him as a “tireless worker with three jobs that he juggled along with his studies.” He was among three fatalities.
The account from the officer added that while “not every encounter you have with the police will be pleasant”, he assured members of the Oxford community that “we are here to give our lives for your kids should the unspeakable ever happen again.”
The post went viral over the weekend, with over 4,000 likes and nearly 1,000 shares.
Mr Crumbley appeared in court on Monday for another pretrial hearing, and has entered a plea of not guilty through attorney, according to reports.