Originally Published in Law Enforcement Today.com
January 18, 2019
By LET Staff
WILSON COUNTY, N.C. – A heroic nurse who came to the roadside aid of a critically wounded state trooper said, “God put me on that road for a reason at that time.”
Law enforcement officials are expressing gratitude to the registered nurse in Wilson County, N.C. She is credited with saving a critically wounded state trooper on her day off.
North Carolina Highway Patrol Trooper Daniel Harrell had been shot in the head during a traffic stop.
Sherice Richardson, 28, was driving to pick up her daughter from daycare when she saw flashing lights Monday night. After she slowed down, she noticed something wasn’t right. She saw that an officer had been shot in the face and was bleeding profusely.
“I left the house at about 5:15 and I go on some country roads,” Richardson said. “I was going around the curve, passing blue lights and so I slowed down some more, then I got out of the car that’s when I seen the bullet holes in the windshield. I didn’t know it at the time but when I got to the car, he just had blood coming from his face and I was like ‘Oh my God, are you OK?’ and all I could hear him say was ‘I’m hit, I’m hit.’ I was like we need to give him help so I called 911.”
While calling for emergency help, Richardson continued to aid Harrell. The heroic nurse used gauze she found in his patrol car to compress the bleeding and prayed over the downed trooper until EMT arrived.
“It was weird,” Richardson told ABC 11. “You’re sitting here with someone that is supposed to protect you and he’s down but you’ve got to do something.”
The thought of the suspect returning crossed her mind, but instead of being afraid, she said she relied on her faith.
“I’m just very, very thankful,” she told ABC 11. “I had him in my prayers. I feel like God put me there on that road for a reason.”
Harrell’s family called Richardson to thank her for her heroic actions.
Harrell, a third-generation officer and five-year veteran with the North Carolina Highway Patrol, went home Wednesday, according to the North Carolina Troopers Association.
“This needless assault provides another reminder of the perils law enforcement officers face each day,” said Col. Glenn McNeill Jr. “I would ask everyone to keep Trooper Harrell’s family and our entire organization in their thoughts and prayers.”
Three men were taken into custody in connection to the shooting following a massive manhunt this week. John David Jones, 36, William Allen Boswell, 40, and Bryan Jeffrey Mullins, 25, are all being held at the Wilson County Detention Center under various charges.
A GoFundMe page was set up to support Harrell’s hospital bills and other expenses, which has raised more than $7,200 toward the $9,000 goal.
