Police Officer Used Romans 13 to Work the Orlando Shooting Scene

News Staff : Jun 17, 2016
Northland Church/Charisma News

"The first thing that came to my mind was that we needed prayer."

(Orlando, FL) — [Northland Church/Charisma News] It was 4:14 a.m. on Sunday when Northland Church Pastor Joel Hunter received an urgent email from Northlander Justin Lemieux, an officer with the Belle Isle Police Department. (Photo Credit: REUTERS/Carlos Barria via Charisma News)

Subject line: Tragedy.

"You will find when you wake in the morning, there is a large-scale mass casualty incident occurring as we speak. I am very close to the scene. Now, more than ever, we need God. Please pray for all of those involved."

We spoke with Officer Lemieux about his experiences that fateful morning and the hope and unity he sees emerging from this tragedy.

Q: What can you tell us about your experiences that day?

A: Well, we had gotten the call earlier that morning just a little bit after 2 a.m. And as the information started to pour in, I realized just how bad things were getting. Hearing the various radios go off between Orange County and the Orlando Police Department, we obviously knew that this was just going to be horrific.

The first thing that came to my mind was that we needed prayer. I was far enough outside of the scene that I was OK to do this... I pulled out my phone and started typing the email to Pastor Joel.

Q: What was it like at the scene?

A: I have two other officers I supervise at night. I was packing up my things and getting ready to leave for the evening when the calls started to come in. I started heading toward the scene, and I didn't hear anything from my guys. The club is outside of our jurisdiction, but because of the severity of the situation, everybody started heading that way.

There on the front lines, I thought to myself, "Oh, my God." Not only were there people inside the club in trouble, but the officers outside were in a position of risk. I heard one of my guys, Officer Brandon Cornwell, come over the radio and say he was actually in the club while all this was going on, and he started to feed us information. I kind of buckled a little bit when I heard what he was saying.

Q: What did he say?

A: Not to get into graphic detail, but he could hear what was going on. He could hear the shots ringing out, could hear people throughout the club. The last thing that I heard Brandon say was that they had cornered the shooter in the bathroom, and Brandon was watching the door of the bathroom. That was the last I heard from him until it was over.

Q: During worship on Monday night, Pastor Joel mentioned that Officer Cornwell was literally "dragging person after person" from the club.

A: After the shooter had barricaded himself into one of the bathrooms, the SWAT team members came in and they started to replace the officers from their positions. That is when officers started to make those rescue attempts and actually pulled several people from the club. Brandon and another officer I work with, Jon-Paul Gargano, had pulled several people from danger.

It was an active scene. The shooter was still in there and could have come out and re-engaged at any time. Those guys still went in and tried to pull as many people as they could from the building.

Q: Incredible. So many were praying that day and are continuing to pray. How are you seeing God's hand at work?

A: I can tell you I have never experienced anything even remotely close to this. In this profession, I have seen a lot and experienced a lot, and it weighs on me at times. This weighs very heavily on me. With that being said, I knew as bad as this was that in the end, it would bring people together. Just the outpouring of love and support for people who have been affected by this tragedy. I think it really shows the compassion humanity is capable of in times like these.

I hate to sound cliché, but there is such a bigger picture in all of it. I think that it has become very evident through all of this just how strong we can be in times of adversity and times of tragedy like this. As horrific as this is, it will bring people closer together, and that is where you really start to feel God's presence.

Q: Romans 13 talks about how those in authority are "ministers of God." You obviously take that to heart.

A: I have been doing this a long time, and I'll tell you at one point I actually got out of the job and thought that I was going to end up going to law school. I tried that route for a little bit, and it was very shortly after I realized that law enforcement is where my calling was and I needed to go back.

I think there is something ingrained in the men and women who do this. Like many professions, this job is not for everyone. But there is definitely a great sense of satisfaction and reward that comes when you are able to...

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Northland Church/Charisma News