DPS presser with civlian who saved trooper's life

Raul Garcia one of the public information officers for the Arizona Department of Public Safety and in just a moment our director here at DPS Colonel Frank Milstead is going to introduce to you the citizen that stopped to render aid and ultimately save the life of trooper Anderson Colonel millstead's last name is spelled mi LST EAD Anderson is with two S's so aan de r SS o N and that's trooper at Anderson that citizen is 43 year-old Thomas yüksel and he is an Arizona resident last name is spelled y ou X ALL going forward mr. Y axle would like the news media to continue to respect his privacy in that of his family today he will discuss his actions only he is not here to discuss the actions of anyone else on scene at that incident on January 12th his recollection of the events from the morning of January 12th are based purely on his memory of the incident in the meantime the DPS investigation still continues he will respond to a limited number of questions after his statement he's not going to get too specific on the details due to this ongoing investigation he respects and appreciates the media's attention to this incident their coverage of the incident and he's grateful for the privacy that him and his family have been afforded thus far but during this difficult time he hopes that you will understand that privacy and afford that to him and his family after today and so now I'd like to introduce the director of the Arizona Department of Public Safety Colonel Frank Mills Dale good afternoon thank you for being here today as I'd indicated over the last week and a half we were going to introduce you to our good citizen that inevitably saved the life of trooper Anderson Thomas and I have been able to talk quite a bit over the last week and a half he's spoken with the governor and the governor's given him his thanks and I am proud to introduce him and what he has done for this agency and I would thank the media for how you guys have handled this given us the time at the time that Thomas needed to present himself in to talk so without further introduction our good citizen and our hero Tom shucks well first of all I'd like to say thanks to Colonel Milstead and everybody in the DPS and law enforcement that has been supportive throughout this it's overwhelming to say the least I would like to personally thank the media for their professionalism throughout this and respecting my desire to initially stay anonymous it has been helpful some people might wonder and ask why I'm coming forward now initially wishing to be anonymous to that I say it's part of my healing process and moving forward and coming to grips with that incident Thursday morning I know there was some question about any type of law enforcement or military training that I might have had and I could say that I've had no such training I do though feel that it's a right and a privilege to be a private gun owner and with that right and privilege comes a great responsibility not only for myself but to those around me so I have taken the time to make sure several times a year to go out and practice those safety techniques to make sure that I'm always responsible from this point forward I know that people will look into my past I do have a past just like everyone else does and I would ask that people remember that those moments of poor judgment have not dictated my future nor represent the person that I am here today that morning I never would have dreamt that I was going to save somebody's life let alone take the life of another individual it is something that will stick with me as I was coming up onto the scene slowing down I can see trooper Anderson's lights on and the flares in the road as I proceeded to go forward I noticed the suspect on top of trooper Anderson beating him in a savage way I immediately pulled over responded to trooper Anderson my commands were ignored by the suspect as trooper Anderson called out for help and I alleviated the threat to him I firmly believe that that morning I was put there as Colonel Milstead said before by God it's difficult to think about that day still I am just thankful that I was able to respond with the courage dignity grace and poise that ultimately saved trooper Anderson's life moving forward I asked the media continue to handle themselves in a professional manner and respect my wishes and not to contact me directly for any further information if you wish to talk to me further I ask that you go through the proper channels at DPS that have been helping me through this this tragedy and it was has affected a lot of people a lot of lives trooper Anderson his family my family me I don't want to exasperate the pain that was felt that morning and I'd like everybody the opportunity to move forward and have their chance to heal I will take a couple questions if anybody has any at this time to be honest with you it was very visceral and instinctive I had to help I knew I had to help um so there wasn't an option for me it wasn't until after and you have that moment to think about your actions that those emotions start to flood in again at the time my primary concern was for the life and welfare of trooper Anderson first and foremost and putting an end to what was occurring to him rather than do what so many citizens are told to call police what what gave you the confidence and the gut feeling that this was the way that's who I am I can't arbitrarily stand by and watch a tragedy like that unfold without doing what I can to intervene and stop it um to me there was no choice there was no opportunity or chance for me to think about it rationally within my my mind I responded the only way I know how to respond and that's to act and again nothing like this and all honesty I don't recall any thought or feeling of fear again it happened very quickly and in that moment there wasn't necessarily a time to for me to react or logically think it out it was I need to help him and I did I responded um so my reaction to that is I don't consider myself a hero in all honesty the heroes that day were the first responders who offered aid and comfort to trooper Anderson all members of law enforcement that were there on the scene assisting and on a daily basis those are the heroes and they always will be I'm an ordinary person I go to work I do photography I hang out with my friends and family um I read I was put in extraordinary circumstances and I may have acted heroically but I don't consider myself a hero at all um it's been helpful to talk to others that have been in similar situations to find that support find that support for my pasture as well it comes in waves it's the best way I can describe it you replay the moments through your mind and they're almost like chapters of a DVD you just get to watch one segment over and over again um and it hurts you know I wouldn't expect anybody else to be affected any differently than I am although I can't speak for anybody else personally um and it's going to take some time um again understanding that I did save somebody's life that morning but I had to take somebody else's life in the process and that's it's difficult to reconcile handle it he says you have no experience in the military or law enforcement yet you you take a couple shots in the dark and and again I have no formal training and again I'll emphasize the fact that I feel as being a private gun owner it's a responsibility and one that should be taken seriously so again I make the effort to go out and in practice and shoot with friends who are better than I am have that experience and it's not unlike a group of friends getting together for a game of golf or around a cricket at a pub you go out and you do what you enjoy I don't and I've never felt that being a gun owner should be stigmatized it's oh a chance I'm Carlos said if you'd like just real quick we kind of cleaned that up last week he actually removed the gun from the car when he got out on the first occasion so that's that original story was inaccurate had you had practice I wouldn't call it tactical practice again going out and shooting in a an enclosed range or out in the desert and a area that's designated for shooting again we take it seriously we're not out there to joke around a horse around and you know that's what we do so I kind of gave Thomas my word that we would keep this short for his own is there anything else you want to say or you the gentleman and the blue hat has been very patient so I would like to let him have a moment yes yes I would um I've thought about that I've actually had that conversation with my pastor again I don't know any other way to be I've been called a couple different things by my friends as far as you know you've always been the protector of the defender and I wouldn't I can comment on that any further how true it is but I just know that doing the right thing sometimes has a price in that price is severe um this is something that I will live with but I wouldn't change it because another man got to go home to his family and his family gets to keep him for a little while longer and that's the important part so he has placed in a similar situation I would not hesitate to respond exactly the same fashion so um currently I am actually a maintenance supervisor um I've been a tradesman for most of my life um and I do photography hopefully one day I will be a photojournalist like everybody else here in the room so if you guys know of any openings so or at work more done okay thanks mom he's good thanks for and and just real quick is there anything that I can answer from DPS for you guys before we call today the recovery is ongoing he has more surgery scheduled the the wound two that he suffered is very severe to the humerus bone lost a portion of the bone and but he is I spoke to him I think last on Monday and he's in good spirits and he's optimistic you know Mike how would I characterize what Thomas did I would tell you that almost his own words you have an ordinary guy a very humble guy as you guys can see comes across to extraordinary circumstances and he at reacts at the highest level with everything to lose that morning and very little for him to gain and he does it exceptionally well and I'm humbled to have met him and to know what he did because we're having this conversation about a ero and not about and in a you know an on-duty death and in the line of duty death so he's a he's an amazing guy and like I said I've been fortunate to be able to talk to him pretty much every day or so over the last week and ten days and I think he and I will always talk so it's good we were taking it that's a great question the question is are we doing anything to help him through the process the answer that is yes and he's doing his own thing with counselors but we provided our peer support we have provided him connection back through the association's here so we are doing everything we can to facilitate whatever it is that he needs and we offer probably more than he accepts but we're a grateful Department all right I only know they met that morning and I know that established this unbelievable bond and I as of last Monday I don't think that they had or maybe it was Friday I guess Friday they hadn't actually seen each other so I don't know if that occurred over the weekend or not candidly but I'm sure they will again all right well hey thank you all again thanks for your support of this agency and Arizona law enforcement

Channel: KGUN9

Views: 268,395

Rating: 4.9347825 out of 5

Keywords: DPS, ambush, trooper, civilian, bystander, saved, life, tonopah

Id: wKSXf3wvOYg

Length: 17min 47sec (1067 seconds)

Published: Tue Jan 24 2017