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This was posted on the EMS forum. I am cross posting it here as it hits close to home.
- H
Horrible news, please pray for the families of the victims. Be safe everyone.
Posted on Sat, Apr. 03, 2004
Authorities: Emergency workers killed early Saturday in ambush
HEATHER HOLLINGSWORTH
Associated Press
EDWARDSVILLE, Kan. - An emergency medical technician and a paramedic were killed early Saturday in an apparent ambush, authorities said.
Firefighters found the two medics dead at an Edwardsville fire station shortly after midnight, said Eric Dooley, a spokesman for Metropolitan Ambulance Service Trust, an ambulance service for the two-state Kansas City area.
He identified the victims as emergency medical technician Tye Brown, 33, and paramedic Catherine Malone, 30, both of suburban Shawnee. Their deaths marked the first time a MAST worker was killed in the line of duty.
"They were good hard working employees," Dooley said. "They appeared to enjoy what they did. It's really kind of hard to talk about this. We lost two members of our family last night tragically and unnecessarily."
Dooley said Saturday morning police have identified a suspect, who is not in custody. While Dooley said he could not release any additional details about how the medics died, he did confirm it was not a murder-suicide.
The pair of medics were the only staffers overnight at the fire station in Edwardsville, a community about 15 miles west of downtown Kansas City, Mo. Dooley said the pair had recently returned from a call when they were paged to respond to a new incident.
When they failed to respond, and dispatcher was unable to contact them by radio or telephone, firefighters were sent to the fire station, Dooley said.
"They went in and found both crew members murdered in the station," Dooley said. "They were both dead."
Dooley said both are single, although Brown has a young daughter. Brown's family is from Kansas City, Kan.; Malone's mother lives in Richmond, Ind., and was on her way to Kansas City Saturday morning. Malone was a seven-year MAST veteran; Brown had worked for the service for five years.
Police in Edwardsville and Kansas City, Kan., are conducting a joint investigation, Dooley said.
"Other than having an armed guard on every station all the time, there was nothing we could have done to prevent this," he said.
A Ford Taurus with personalized license plates that read "P MEDIC" was parked inside the fire station late Saturday morning. The station is located on the edge of the Kansas City area, near Kansas Speedway in southwestern Wyandotte County; behind the station, several head of cattle were grazing in a field.
"I'm shocked because this is just not that type of a neighborhood," said neighbor Edith Leihsing, who lives next to the station.
The flag at the station was lowered to half mast, and Edwardsville firefighter Ed Lynn said they were doing the same at the department's other stations.
"I think it's unreal," Lynn said. "Devastating for one, for the families for sure."
In February, MAST paramedic Mary Seymour was shot after arriving at the scene of a fire and explosion at two homes in south Kansas City, Mo. Shot twice in the chest, Seymour, 39, was released from the hospital a few days later and is expected to make a full recovery.
- H
Horrible news, please pray for the families of the victims. Be safe everyone.
Posted on Sat, Apr. 03, 2004
Authorities: Emergency workers killed early Saturday in ambush
HEATHER HOLLINGSWORTH
Associated Press
EDWARDSVILLE, Kan. - An emergency medical technician and a paramedic were killed early Saturday in an apparent ambush, authorities said.
Firefighters found the two medics dead at an Edwardsville fire station shortly after midnight, said Eric Dooley, a spokesman for Metropolitan Ambulance Service Trust, an ambulance service for the two-state Kansas City area.
He identified the victims as emergency medical technician Tye Brown, 33, and paramedic Catherine Malone, 30, both of suburban Shawnee. Their deaths marked the first time a MAST worker was killed in the line of duty.
"They were good hard working employees," Dooley said. "They appeared to enjoy what they did. It's really kind of hard to talk about this. We lost two members of our family last night tragically and unnecessarily."
Dooley said Saturday morning police have identified a suspect, who is not in custody. While Dooley said he could not release any additional details about how the medics died, he did confirm it was not a murder-suicide.
The pair of medics were the only staffers overnight at the fire station in Edwardsville, a community about 15 miles west of downtown Kansas City, Mo. Dooley said the pair had recently returned from a call when they were paged to respond to a new incident.
When they failed to respond, and dispatcher was unable to contact them by radio or telephone, firefighters were sent to the fire station, Dooley said.
"They went in and found both crew members murdered in the station," Dooley said. "They were both dead."
Dooley said both are single, although Brown has a young daughter. Brown's family is from Kansas City, Kan.; Malone's mother lives in Richmond, Ind., and was on her way to Kansas City Saturday morning. Malone was a seven-year MAST veteran; Brown had worked for the service for five years.
Police in Edwardsville and Kansas City, Kan., are conducting a joint investigation, Dooley said.
"Other than having an armed guard on every station all the time, there was nothing we could have done to prevent this," he said.
A Ford Taurus with personalized license plates that read "P MEDIC" was parked inside the fire station late Saturday morning. The station is located on the edge of the Kansas City area, near Kansas Speedway in southwestern Wyandotte County; behind the station, several head of cattle were grazing in a field.
"I'm shocked because this is just not that type of a neighborhood," said neighbor Edith Leihsing, who lives next to the station.
The flag at the station was lowered to half mast, and Edwardsville firefighter Ed Lynn said they were doing the same at the department's other stations.
"I think it's unreal," Lynn said. "Devastating for one, for the families for sure."
In February, MAST paramedic Mary Seymour was shot after arriving at the scene of a fire and explosion at two homes in south Kansas City, Mo. Shot twice in the chest, Seymour, 39, was released from the hospital a few days later and is expected to make a full recovery.
