Amanda Thomason August 4, 2021 at 5:16pm
On July 25, in Auburn, Alabama, a man reportedly put his family, his neighborhood, first responders and himself in a very dangerous position.
Calls came into the Auburn Police District around 7:00 p.m. reporting a domestic violence incident in the Camden Ridge Subdivision.
When police arrived, the man reportedly began firing at them with a handgun. Police fired back, and the man retreated into the home, where he also had his family trapped in a room.
Thanks to the police and fire department coming together and working smarter instead of harder, the situation was resolved without injury to the family members trapped upstairs.
It was firefighter Andrew Kiser, Chief of Police Cedric Anderson and Shift Supervisor Lt. Cody Hill who were responsible for carrying out the daring rescue that helped bring the threat to an end.
While the shooter refused to exit the house, the men carried a ladder to the house and set it up to reach one of the second-story windows, where they learned the man’s family had been trapped.
While Anderson held the ladder steady, Hill climbed the ladder and Kiser assisted the family as they climbed out of the window.
With the family out of the way, Lee County SWAT was able to enter the house and capture the suspect. He was taken to Baptist Medical Center South after he was found to have sustained what appeared to be a gunshot wound.
“Auburn PD Alerts: Heavy Police Activity in the Camden Ridge Subdivision, in the area of Wedgewood Ct.,” a public safety alert for the area read, according to WRBL-TV.
“The scene is secure at this time, NO ONGOING THREAT.”
Auburn Assistant Police Chief Clarence Stewart praised the efforts of all involved, highlighting how each group present played an important role in the successful rescue.
“I can’t describe how much compassion I saw out there on the scene and how much I mean acts of courage I saw out there as well, from not only us, but again the citizenry that’s out there,” he said. “We have a wonderful community.
“It was a great team effort, on everybody’s behalf. If it weren’t for AFD, Auburn Fire, having that ladder out there, it would have made matters a little bit more difficult for us to be able to extract those family members from that second-story window.”
The suspect’s current condition and potential charges have not yet been shared.
Amanda holds an MA in Rhetoric and TESOL from Cal Poly Pomona. After teaching composition and logic for several years, she’s strayed into writing full-time and especially enjoys animal-related topics.
As of January 2019, Amanda has written over 1,000 stories for The Western Journal but doesn’t really know how. Graduating from California State Polytechnic University with a MA in Rhetoric/Composition and TESOL, she wrote her thesis about metacognitive development and the skill transfer between reading and writing in freshman students.
She has a slew of interests that keep her busy, including trying out new recipes, enjoying nature, discussing ridiculous topics, reading, drawing, people watching, developing curriculum, and writing bios. Sometimes she has red hair, sometimes she has brown hair, sometimes she’s had teal hair.
With a book on productive communication strategies in the works, Amanda is also writing and illustrating some children’s books with her husband, Edward.
Location
Austin, Texas
Languages Spoken
English und ein bißchen Deutsch
Topics of Expertise
Faith, Animals, Cooking