Firefighter killed

[Wes]

My brother is a battalion chief for a pretty large fire district in the St. Louis area. I talked to him last night and he told me about something that happened up there that just totally blew me away.

A firefighter/paramedic was part of a crew that was responding to a pickup truck fire this past Monday. As soon as the guy got out of the truck a sniper shot him in the head and killed him, then he wounded police officers. Evidently the fire was just bait so that he could kill some folks. The paramedic that he killed was 22 years old and had only been with the fire department for about 7 months.

This sickens me.

[Abel]

horrible..

complete story:
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/...n4277458.shtml

"He had been with the fire department for only 10 months but knew it was his calling," fire Chief Terry Merrell said about the passing of 22-year-old Ryan Hummert.

My father is in the HFD and to know what these men put on the line day in and day out is is ridiculous to think they also have something of this nature to contend with as well.

[Sonny]

That is awful.

[Debbi]

I read about this story last week and it sickens me as well. With my own brother with the FTW Fire Dept., it is amazing what these guys/gals do each and every day.

[Jenny Z]

Oh my God... it's hard to imagine the person who would do such a thing to people who give so selflessly :(

[kdloftis]

Oh my goodness, reading this took my breath away. My thoughts are with his family.

[Wendy]

It just sickens me to hear stories like this. These people dedicate their lives to saving others' and to hear something like this... words escape me.

[lhdvies]

If you know a fireman, now would be a good time to let them know how proud you are of them and thank them for their service!

[adam75south]

that sucks. my brother's a firefighter. i'm not sure why you would target people who were there to help. makes me wonder if he specifically targeted the guy for a reason.

[Howard Barlow]

Evil is alive and well on planet earth.

[Corrie]

Man that is terrible.

[Wes]

My brother is part of a select group of firefighters that provides grief counseling to other firefighters. He was called upon to do the counseling for the station that victim worked out of. A quote from him: "You never get used to seeing grown men cry."

[René]

That is so sad!

[CaptainTom]

Sometimes I wonder whether the death penalty is right or wrong. Then I hear something like this and stop wondering. The death penalty would be too easy for somebody who did something like this. Medieval torture comes to mind.

[loana0320]

oh how horrible :(