After Loughner started shooting into the crowd, Judge John M. Roll evidently sacrificed his life in an effort to save another. Richard Kastigar, the investigative and operational bureau chief of the Pima County Sheriff's Department, describes what happened:
[The judge was] intentionally trying to help Mr. Barber. It’s very clear to me the judge was thinking of his fellow human more than himself… He pushes Mr. Barber with his right hand and guides him with his left hand. The judge was on top of him and is covering up Mr. Barber, literally lying on top of him, and his back was exposed.I can speculate that Judge Roll's family might wish events had unfolded differently, but one thing I can say with surety: In the confusion and heat of this moment, this man proved who he was. Unequivocally, and without a doubt. As John Steakley wrote, "You are what you do when it counts." On January 8, 2011, the Honorable Judge John M. Roll stood up and was counted.
Fair winds and following seas, Judge Roll. While I would wish for another outcome for you and your family's sake, your final moments are a credit to your humanity.
______
H/T to the inspirational Eric.
5 comments:
This story keeps making me tear-up a little. I think we'd all like to think we'd be heroes in a situation like that, but the truth is none of us know who we'd really be under dire circumstances. I wish heroism hadn't been called for that day; I admire Judge Roll for rising to the occasion when it was.
Me, too, Eric - on all counts.
(sniff)
Stop making me cry at work.
Amazing. Just amazing.
(sniff)
Yes. This. I can always hope that I would act honorably or heroically under such a situation, but I have no idea.
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