A Memphis motorcyclist who survived being shot twice while traveling 75 mph on I-240 is riding again — and he recently reunited with the trooper and National Guard medic who helped keep him alive.
Donnie Gentry was riding his Harley-Davidson northbound near the Union Avenue bridge just before 1 a.m. on June 1 when an unknown shooter opened fire. According to Action News 5, Gentry heard four shots, realized he had been hit, and managed to pull over before his injured leg gave out, and his motorcycle fell on top of him.
Two bystanders lifted the bike away as emergency responders arrived. Gentry had a gunshot wound to his leg and another in his upper right back, and an earlier police account said he was taken to the hospital in critical condition after a vehicle reportedly pulled alongside him and fired.
Tourniquets And A Chest Seal Bought Gentry Time
Tennessee Highway Patrol Trooper Lucas Tremmel arrived first, while National Guard Specialist John Huisman was only about a tenth of a mile away when the dispatch call came in at 12:58 a.m. Huisman applied a tourniquet high on Gentry’s leg, helped apply a second tourniquet to stabilize a compound fracture and placed a chest seal over the back wound.
Gentry later reunited with Tremmel and Huisman to thank them, telling them they had kept him alive and calling them his heroes. Despite still riding with his leg wrapped in bandages, he said he plans to take the same road and lane where he was shot, a defiant choice after a terrifying stretch of highway turned into a near-fatal ambush.
Action News 5 reported that Gentry’s reunion included a lighter moment, with the motorcyclist joking that Tremmel could pull him over and write him a ticket anytime. The encounter ended with Gentry saying, in essence, that some heroes wear a National Guard uniform while others wear a trooper uniform.
Arrest Made In I-240 Shooting Investigation
Police arrested 34-year-old Jasper Vassar on July 21 and charged him with possession of a handgun while being a convicted felon. Vassar is free on a $7,500 bond and is due in court next Tuesday, but the reported charge does not establish that he has been charged with shooting Gentry.
