The Heroes Came Running

WATER VALLEY – When deputy Thomas West woke up Saturday, a day after being engaged in battle for his life, he was greeted to an outpouring of support from friends, family and brothers in blue through texts, calls and on social media.

His response was one of gratitude.

“The heroes came running to gunfire,” West replied on Facebook.

Water Valley Police officer Derrick Yancy and Yalobusha County deputy Donald Wilson, his partners in blue, were the heroes who literally ran across the cotton field to assist as the shots rang out during an intense gun fight.

West had been ambushed minutes earlier as he followed fresh four-wheeler tracks across a cotton field just as daylight was breaking Friday morning. It had been over two hours since Wilson had initially attempted to stop the ATV. Yancy had spotted the fresh tracks, which weren’t far from where the ATV was last seen. During that two-hour span between the attempted traffic stop and ambush, the investigation had already led to the recovery of multiple stolen items at a residence on Wood Street.

Reflecting on the ordeal Monday, West said that as he trailed the tracks, he was thinking that he might recover a stolen ATV.  He drove just past the ATV before he spotted it and, as he got out of his cruiser, he caught a glimpse of somebody hiding in the bushes. That’s when the first shot erupted and West saw a flash of orange from the shotgun and felt the blast – he had been hit.

He sprinted for cover and for his life, miraculously only slightly injured.

Yancy was still up on the road and heard the first boom from the shotgun and return fire from West’s pistol. Wilson was also pulling up and the two officers sprinted across the cotton field, running to help their fellow officer.

“Help, help, I’ve been shot,” West said on the radio as the pair raced to them. 

The shots continued to ring out as the men approached and West provided updates, radioing that he was getting low on ammunition and that the two suspects had commandeered his car that he had been forced to abandon when he was ambushed.

Minutes later the ordeal ended as the officers disabled the police cruiser and Robert Berube exited it, continuing to fire at the officers before he was taken down.

“These guys did everything textbook. They handled the situation professionally and their training paid off where nobody else got hurt and the suspects were stopped,” reported Water Valley Police Chief A.J.  Hernandez. 

“I am very proud all three of them and I stand behind them,” Hernandez said.

“It was teamwork. It was law enforcement working together during the whole incident,” Sheriff Lance Humphreys added, reiterating that the law enforcement training the officers received kicked in.

“It was good police work from everybody involved,” the sheriff added.

Both Hernandez and Humphreys expressed gratitude for the outpouring of support for their officers in an incident that could have easily had a different outcome.

“I can’t say enough about the people in our county, they support law enforcement and our officers,” the sheriff explained.

Hernandez said the support from the city has been equally amazing.

“The mayor came out immediately to check on the officers,” Hernandez added. 

And when West got to the emergency room at Baptist Memorial Hospital in Oxford, he said a team of medical personnel were waiting to treat him.

“I walked in and they were all waiting, I told them I was the deputy who was shot,” West said, as the crew sprang into action.

Three days after the incident West reported he is sore and has several pellets from the shotgun blast still lodged inside him. 

“I can say the (Water Valley) chief and sheriff are working to take care of their men involved in the shooting,” reported Mississippi Law Enforcement Alliance For Peer Support (L.E.A.P.S.) Director Jimmy Anthony. His  agency responds to high stress events including officer involved shootings to offer peer support.

   Anthony had visited the officers involved in the shooting and the crime scene Friday and returned Monday. He added L.E.A.P.S. will continue to meet with the officers in the coming weeks.