Charlotte experienced a serious incident earlier this year when a gunman ambushed members of the U.S. Marshals Fugitive Task Force, resulting in the deaths of four officers. On April 29, stories of courage emerged, particularly from the Charlotte Fire Department's Engine 15 crew, according to the City of Charlotte.
The call for Engine 15 quickly changed to respond to a gunshot wound incident, with early reports indicating that two officers were down. Captain Nathan Jones and his team from Engine 15, including Engineer Justin Barringer, Firefighter William "Billy" Costello, and Firefighter Jonathan Moore, had to adapt rapidly to a dangerous situation. “Initially, the call went out as a medic, hold unknown medical. But then I saw the notes: two officers down. That’s when we knew this was different. We had to get there fast," Jones told the City of Charlotte's official news outlet. Their efforts were further complicated by a water main repair. Barringer described the delay as frustrating, saying, "It felt like every second mattered, and we were losing time."
Upon arrival at the scene, the Engine 15 crew found their planned access blocked by police vehicles. They quickly put on vests and helmets to follow Battalion Chief Mike Clumpner into the chaos, making their way toward the injured parties. When the firefighters arrived, they tried to help Poloche but discovered they did not have the keys to the police cruiser they were using for cover. “We ran over, took him from the officers, and tried to treat him in a blacked-out police cruiser. But then one of the officers realized there were no keys,” Firefighter Costello recalled, as stated by the City of Charlotte. Remembering the sounds of bullets passing by, Barringer described the intensity of the experience, saying, "It sounded like they were coming from behind, but it was just the sound of the bullets breaking the sound barrier as they passed by us."
