Local 53 member Henry Gill’s heroic actions save state trooper’s life
Officer Henry Gill, Local 53:
“I stopped because I wanted to make sure that trooper got home that night.”
To Liquor and Cannabis Board enforcement officer 2 Henry Gill, the actions he took earlier this year to save the life of a state trooper weren’t heroic.
Gill, a Local 53 member, was driving home from work late Feb. 8 when he came upon the trooper caught in a life-or-death struggle with a suspect on the side of Interstate 5 south of Tacoma.
The trooper had the suspected carjacker pinned face down on the shoulder pavement. But the suspect kept reaching his free right hand back to try to stab the trooper.
Gill quickly figured out what was happening and jammed on his brakes.
“Because I was not going to leave a law enforcement officer alone on the side of a freeway at night chasing after somebody on foot by himself – it’s just not going to happen,” Gill said.
The situation was “pretty frantic” with the suspect apparently under the influence of some substance that amplified his strength, Gill said.
“I heard the trooper yell, ‘He’s got a knife, he’s got a knife,’” Gill said.
Gill joined in the fray as the suspect continued to try to stab the trooper in the head. All the while the suspect displayed a “blank stare – there was no one there,” Gill said.
At one point, the knife was pointed directly at Gill’s face.
“It was getting to the point where he was either going to toss the trooper or he was going to get that arm away from me – and one of us was going to get stabbed,” Gill said.
“And I was bound and determined neither the trooper nor I was going to get stabbed.”
Then, Gill faced the decision whether to shoot the suspect.
But as the LCB commendation of Gill reported: “Within seconds, Officer Gill made the determination that while using deadly force was justified, he realized the trooper could be adversely affected by the use of his weapon.”
Gill reholstered his pistol and made another attempt to pry the knife with its 4-inch blade from the suspect’s hand.
“So I decided to make one last-ditch effort before I had to resort to deadly force and that was to forcibly pull the handle and that knife towards the opening of his fingers,” Gill said.
“And so I got a hold of it with just my two fingers and I just yanked for all it was worth. And it worked.”
Lakewood Police officers then arrived and assisted getting the suspect into custody.
Gill faced many life-or-death situations before he retired after 28 ½ years with the Tacoma Police Department.
In his new job with the Liquor and Cannabis Board, he doesn’t expect these situations – especially one where his decision to use deadly force could have put another law enforcement officer at risk.
But he doesn’t consider himself a hero.
His agency disagrees.
“Officer Gill demonstrated the highest form of selflessness and service in representing the LCB by preventing what could have been a fatal tragedy,” the LCB commendation said.
“I don’t think what I did was anything special or heroic,” Gill said.
“I just did what I needed to do.”
Law enforcement officers “don’t see it as being heroic, we see it as our duty, our responsibility, our role,” he added.
“Because we all want to go home to our families every night.
“I stopped because I wanted to make sure that trooper got home that night.”
