EXCELSIOR SPRINGS, Mo. (WDAF) — A Missouri police officer injured in a shooting over the weekend is expected to be OK, partially thanks to the help of a teenager.
On Saturday, police in Excelsior Springs were trying to arrest a man wanted for an assault on a law enforcement officer when he began firing at them. One officer was hit in the shoulder and wrist before the man, identified as 65-year-old Carl Carrel, was fatally shot by another officer, authorities explained.
Ava Donegan, a student at Oak Park High School, recalled it as being a helter-skelter scene. Donegan said she and her boyfriend had been visiting Excelsior Springs when the incident broke out.
“I had never heard gunshots so close up. I had never even — I had never even seen a cop draw his gun in general,” Ava said.
Ava said the officer who had been shot asked her to help him apply a tourniquet, a tool with which she was already familiar. Her father, Devin, is a trauma nurse at University Health in Kansas City. She said she even carries a tourniquet in her car.
“I was putting the tourniquet over his arm. He was telling me that it was numb. I could tell it was numb because his arm was completely limp,” Ava said.
“I think it was exceptional that she was able to get out and have the wherewithal to get out and help. Just to hear my daughter step up to the plate and help somebody in need, I was ecstatic,” Devin told Nexstar’s WDAF.
The officer and Carrel were transported to an area hospital following the incident. According to the Clay County Sheriff’s Office, Carrel was pronounced dead on Sunday.
Excelsior Springs Police said in a Monday Facebook post that their officer, who they haven’t identified yet, is expected to recover. He has undergone two surgeries already and will have a third procedure Tuesday.
“Officer is in good spirits and has already made comments about wanting to get back to work,” the department wrote in the post. “He has a long road of recovery, but the outlook is very positive.”
The second officer in the incident “is doing well also,” police added.
WDAF spoke briefly with Excelsior Springs Police Chief Greg Dull on Monday. He wouldn’t comment on any of Carrel’s previous cases, or what might be next in this investigation. Missouri court records show two charges against Carrel related to previous cases involving assaults against a law enforcement officer, and another for failing to appear in court.
The shooting remains under investigation.