A Good Samaritan who has had “trouble with law enforcement in his life” dragged a wounded Texas cop to safety Saturday morning after he was shot in the leg during a firefight with a carjacker.
John Lally sprung into action when a shootout broke out after an unidentified 19-year-old suspect fled a traffic stop and crashed his stolen car on the Southwest Freeway in Houston at about 10 a.m., according to the Houston Police Department.
The suspect got out of the car and tried to carjack another driver, police said. When that failed, the firefight began in earnest as a series of gunshots cut through the drone of passing traffic, according to a video of the chaotic scene obtained by ABC 13 in Houston.
One round found its mark, striking Officer J. Gibson, 29, and leaving him bleeding and crawling on the pavement.
That’s when Lally jumped into the fray, running toward the injured officer.
“I just kinda ran over there, and I grabbed that guy with the other police officer,” Lally told ABC. “Me and him, together, we grabbed him by his vest, so he wouldn’t get shot again.”
They dragged Gibson across the freeway and behind a truck as a storm of bullets flew overhead, according to a harrowing video the courageous Lally took because he was on his way to work and wasn’t sure his employers would believe him.
“I saw that one cop get shot, and I’ve been shot before in the same leg, and it made me know what he was going through,” Lally told KHOU 11 in Houston.
“I just seen somebody [who needed] help, so I ran over there,” Lally continued. “I kind of didn’t know there was shooting still going on — in my head, I just was like, ‘Man, I gotta’ go get this guy real quick.’”
Then Lally stayed with the man, comforting him as they waited for the paramedics.
“’It’s just your leg. It’s just your leg, you hear me? Just squeeze my hand as tight as you have to,’” Lally said. “’Do you know what I’m saying? Don’t worry, I’m here with you.’”
“It was my calling to be here with you today, you hear me?” Lally said on the recording.
His heroic deeds were a prime example of citizens uniting for the greater good, according to Chief Troy Finner of the Houston Police Department.
“[Lally] has had trouble with law enforcement in his life, but [Saturday], he and a few other citizens, along with our officers, when that officer went down, they pulled him to safety,” Finner said. “I want to celebrate that.”
“A truly reformed individual is a person that we can use [as an example],” he continued. “He stepped up.”
Finner said the department will formally acknowledge Lally in the future.
Lally told ABC that one of Gibson’s family members had already reached out to thank him.
Meanwhile, Gibson is recovering at a local hospital, police said.
The father-of-one had surgery on the leg, and is listed in stable condition.