Page 7 - Sergeant Helus News Today

Resident and my understanding was he served some time in the marines, the marine corps. four years of active duty and several years of reserve time after that. he was a machine gunner. outside of that, we have had a few contacts with him. but nothing that even would remotely suggest this kind of behavior. >> yeah. its an awful situation. i know you guys are going to come and learn about it and hopefully lessons will be learned for all of us to try to make sure it doesnt happen again. sergeant, t...

Be convoying him over. >> with the loss of a sergeant, what is -- >> its lost a hero. its lost a great human being. its part of the loss of, again, the 11 other victims that are in there, and its all part of the suffering were all going to go through as family members and parents and brothers and sisters on this tragic, senseless loss of life. >> sheriff, what is your message -- >> he was within a couple years of retiring, yes. >> can you talk about any training these deputies may have been thro...

Grill. sergeant helus was hitting in his cruiser when the call came in, on the phone with his wife. he was here within minutes. he and a highway patrolman decided they had to go in. they could hear gunfire and knew people needed help. as the sheriff explained, since columbine, the way authorities approach these events as changed. it used to be they would keep a perimet perimeter. now the direction is go in. thats what these two men did. sergeant helus was hit in a hail of gunfire and dragged by ...

Would suggest to me that those smoke bombs werent something that showed he was intending to conduct an action. if he acquired them in the past few days, your answer changes there. i think the issues here arent going to be about planning. they are going to be about the mental state of this person and what mental health professionals do when people in the neighborhood call in, again, as they did in that case in broward county with the kid who shot up the high school. what do law enforcement and me...

Others tried to escape, and ron helus was the first law enforcement officer to confront the shooter, and he is now dead, 29 years on the force. our nick watt is on the scene with the latest breaking details. >> reporter: as you say, 13 people now dead. 11 people killed inside that club. the gunman himself is dead, and unclear if that was a self-inflicted wound or if he was hit by deputies as they came in. the other victim, that 29-year veteran, the sheriffs sergeant that was first on the scene w...

Them because this will touch so many lives around our community. >> any indication of social media that he may have been using where he was complaining about something? >> theres nothing to indication that, but we are looking at his social media sites, which im sure all of you are also. >> did any of the officers in there engage him at all? >> none of them were armed. >> can you give us information about the law officer that passed away? >> well, its out there, sergeant ron helus. hes a 54-year-...

Individuals. now, when you look at the type of handgun he used, a glock 21, generally, the glock 21 with a standard magazine will hold 15 rounds. if he had a regular extended magazine, that would hold up to 26 rounds. so he really wouldnt have to reload, it sounds like in this particular scenario, he was confronted so quickly by sergeant helus, who i agree with jonathan is a hero, and training has showed us that when you can distract a shooter, as sergeant helus did in this particular case, it s...

Happen but its not the result you are supposed to get. this is tragic, but it was about as perfect a response as you can imagine. who knows how many more would have died had these two not gone in. >> sergeant helus died at the hospital, we were told by the sheriff, an hour ago. he is survived by a wife and son. 29 years on the force. he started in august of 1989. thats the only victims name we know right now because, again, the sheriff was very cautious about -- they still have to alert the fami...

>> do you know how the suspect was shot? >> its not -- we believe he shot himself. when the officers went in and made reentry, they found him already deceased. >> where inside the bar was he found? >> he was found inside an office just ajacet to the entry to the bar. >> its our understanding that sergeant helus was able to call his wife right before he ran into the bar. >> sergeant helus was having a conversation with his wife on the phone, and said to her, hey, i have to go. i love you. ill tal...

One of those hero officers was sergeant ron helus, the community that loved hmm, honoring him with a solemn procession. with me is julie novak, a colleague of sergeant helus. our deepest condolences to you and your office. how are you holding up? >> thank you. not very well. its really hard. its -- ron was an amazing guy. great co-worker. he was a guy that always went everywhere and did everything and energized everybody. and were all feeling this. ive known him for 24 years and so its hard. i j...