An Arkansas nurse who was caught up in a grocery retailer mass capturing is being hailed a hero after it was revealed she had the chance to flee from the shooter, however as a substitute stopped to render assist to a different sufferer.
It was whereas 23-year-old Callie Weems was treating one other one that had been hit, that she turned a sufferer herself and was shot lifeless.
Weems’ response to assist was instinctual. The younger lady got here from a household of three generations of nurses.
Panicked bystanders ducked and scrambled for canopy amid a barrage of gunfire, however Weems stayed behind to assist.
‘As an alternative of fleeing the shop, she stopped to render assist in one of the crucial selfless acts I’ve ever seen,’ Colonel Mike Hagar, director of the Arkansas State police, mentioned of the nurse.
An Arkansas nurse, Callie Weems, 23, who was caught up in a grocery retailer mass capturing had the chance to flee from the shooter, however as a substitute stopped to assist one other sufferer
4 individuals have been killed and 10 wounded in a capturing at a grocery retailer in Fordyce, Arkansas
‘As an alternative of fleeing the shop, she stopped to render assist in one of the crucial selfless acts I’ve ever seen,’ Colonel Mike Hagar, director of the Arkansas State police, mentioned of the nurse
Weems was one in every of 4 individuals killed and 9 wounded throughout the capturing shortly earlier than noon on Friday on the Mad Butcher grocery in Fordyce, a city of three,200 individuals about 70 miles south of Little Rock.
‘She died doing what she all the time does: Serving to,’ her father, Tommy Weems mentioned.
‘There is not any instruction handbook for this,’ Tommy mentioned to the Arkansas Democrat Gazette. ‘These are the primary tears I’ve shed. There’s anger and sorrow, harm. It does not are available in any order. Your world as it ends.’
Weems had been reveling in her new function as a mother within the months earlier than the gunman took her life, taking care of 10-month-old child Ivy Mae.
‘He took a really particular individual out of this world,’ distraught dad, Tommy, added.
Weems’ devastated mom, Helen Browning, mentioned that she initially believed her daughter was protected, as a result of she turned on her location tracker when she heard of the mass capturing and noticed she was on the hospital.
‘I am considering, “She’s at work. She got here in to assist,”‘ Browning advised Fox16.
Callie Weems had lately change into a brand new mom and doted on her 10-month-old child woman
Callie Weems seemed to be a pure mom as she doted on little child Ivy Mae
On the morning of the capturing, Weems had been marveling that her little woman had let her sleep in till 9am that morning
Weems had been marveling that her little woman had let her sleep in till 9am that morning.
“‘I guess you’re feeling like a brand new mother,´” Browning recalled texting again. It was the final dialog that they had.
However she mentioned her fears have been raised when she could not pay money for her daughter, and mentioned the tragic reality dawned on her when she raced to the scene with Weem’s stepfather, Bruce Grice.
‘My greatest buddy was standing proper there and I mentioned, “Kristie, inform me my child’s OK.” and he or she mentioned, “I can’t,”‘ Browning mentioned. ‘And that’s after I simply broke.”
The suspect gunman, recognized as 44-year-old Travis Eugene Posey, was wounded in a shootout with police and can be charged with 4 counts of capital homicide, officers mentioned.
Investigators have but to find out a motive for what Hagar referred to as a ‘fully random, mindless act.’
Browning lamented the lack of Weems and revealed that she had additionally identified Posey since he was a baby.
‘I simply wish to know why Joey Posey awakened this morning and determined he wanted to go damage households’ lives,’ she requested.
Browning mentioned Posey went to highschool together with her youngest sister, and he or she by no means would have thought he may do one thing so violent.
She plans to lift Ivy now.
‘She’s going to know that her mom liked her,’ she mentioned. ‘And that she was the sunshine of momma’s eyes.’
A GoFundMe has been set as much as assist increase funds for the infant and pay for funeral bills.
Weems’ heartbroken mom mentioned after her demise: ‘I simply wish to know why Joey Posey awakened this morning and determined he wanted to go damage households’ lives?’
Callie Weems is seen alongside her mom, Helen Browning, left, who will now increase her child
Legislation enforcement officers work the scene of a capturing on the Mad Butcher grocery retailer
Col. Mike Hagar, heart, at podium, solutions questions from the media throughout a information convention on Sunday concerning Friday’s lethal capturing at an Arkansas grocery retailer
Cellphone footage captured Posey within the parking zone with a protracted gun, allegedly capturing into the Mad Butcher retailer and at police arriving on the scene.
Hagar mentioned the shooter started firing indiscriminately within the parking zone after which inside the shop, armed with a 12-gauge shotgun and a pistol and firing principally buckshot.
Police mentioned on Sunday that Posey’s motive was nonetheless unclear, however he appeared to don’t have any private connection to any of the victims.
‘Throughout the incident, we noticed the easiest and the very worst of humanity,’ Hagar mentioned, praising six responding law enforcement officials who positioned themselves between the shooter and civilians.
Two of the wounded have been officers, police mentioned.
A complete of 4 individuals have been shot lifeless with 9 injured. Authorities say the motive for the bloodbath stays unclear
Travis Posey, 44, has been recognized by legislation enforcement because the alleged gunman within the capturing. He was taken to hospital with non-life-threatening accidents after being hit in a shoot-out with cops
Hagar mentioned the officers and deputies who responded to the scene knew the shooter and the victims, making the assault notably troublesome and private.
Police mentioned Posey, who was in custody on the Ouachita County Detention Heart, can be charged with 4 counts of capital homicide.
Moreover Weems, the deadly victims have been recognized as Shirley Taylor, 62, Roy Sturgis, 50, and Ellen Shrum, 81.
The surviving victims vary in age from 20 to 65.
