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October 05, 2007
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Okla. officer saved by bulletproof vest
The BA officer was shot during a domestic disturbance in which a woman also was wound
Jeff Billington
Tulsa World, Okla.
BROKEN ARROW — Officer Zach Schatz looks at things a little differently after having been shot in the chest Monday at nearly point-blank range.
He survived because of his bulletproof vest.
"That bullet could have gone anywhere," Schatz said. "It hit me in the vest, and the vest did its job."
Schatz, along with fellow officers Chad Burden and Greg Fell, were the first to arrive at the residence at 1401 W. Fredricksburg St. about 7:30 a.m. Monday.
They were responding to a possible domestic violence call with shots fired. But when Schatz heard the actual location of the residence, he let the other officers know that it wasn't going to be a routine call.
The officers were going to the home of Teresa Louise Thompson, 46, who reportedly was being held against her will by her ex-boyfriend Kelly Leon Waymire, 46.
"I was familiar with it. I dealt with the same suspect in a similar instance last summer," said Schatz, a 2-1/2-year veteran of the department. "I told them (the other officers) it's probably
going to be the real deal, a very serious situation, when we arrived."
Waymire had entered Thompson's home with weapons and ammunition, just as he did last year, Schatz said. This time, Thompson's current boyfriend, George Edwards, also was there and also was armed.
After Waymire entered the home, he and Edwards exchanged several shots before Edwards escaped through a back door and went for help, police said.
The three officers, their shotguns raised, walked toward the home's front door, Schatz said.
"I went to kick in the door, and the suspect began shooting through the window at us," he said.
One shot hit Schatz in the right side of the chest, knocking him back about 6 inches.
"I saw glass fly and felt a large impact on my chest, and it knocked me back," he said.
The officers, including Schatz, returned fire while momentarily retreating.
Burden said: "I knew we had to get out of close proximity to where the shots were fired at us. I started yelling and screaming to him (Schatz), 'Get over here! Get away from there!' "
At some point while Thompson was being held hostage, she was shot in the chest. She was listed in serious condition at a Tulsa hospital Thursday.
The standoff came to an end more than 3-1/2 hours after it began when a tactical team entered the home and subdued Waymire, police said.
Waymire was convicted of feloniously pointing a firearm and misdemeanor assault and battery during a similar incident at the home in July 2006.
Copyright 2007 Tulsa World
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