OfficerBlueParkland, FL – Sergeant Jeff Heinrich with the Coral Springs Police Department spoke up on Friday about the school shooting, which happened while he was off-duty at the school.
Sergeant Heinrich was wearing only a T-shirt and shorts as he watered the school’s baseball field when the shots started.
”My wife is the [Stoneman Douglas] assistant athletic director who works hand in hand with Chris Hixon, who lost his life. [Aaron] Feis was my son’s football coach. So it comes on a different level for me,” Sergeant Heinrich said, according to ABC13.
“By the grace of God, my wife and my son at opposite ends of the school. My son was out on a bathroom pass and my wife was in planning inside the girl’s locker room. They both heard the fire alarm and decided to evacuate,” Sergeant Heinrich said.
The veteran police officer described the start of the shooting.
“Kids started to run, kids started to scream, at that time I heard a round of probably 5 or 6 shots. Obviously, I dropped the hose I was using to water the infield and ran towards the parking lot, which is where the kids were,” he said. “Immediately when I ran into the parking lot I encountered a young student… Kyle has a massive gunshot wound.”
The sergeant was able to grab Kyle and take him back to the baseball clubhouse and administer first aid before handing him off to the fire department.
A SWAT Captain arrived who had an extra vest and backup weapon.
Sergeant Heinrich strapped on the armor to the outside of his T-shirt and shorts, grabbed the captain’s pistol, and went into the school to hunt the shooter.
You can see Sergeant Jeff Heinrich describe the incident below: