Utah officers who saved burning suicidal man speak to public - East Idaho News
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Utah officers who saved burning suicidal man speak to public

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KAYSVILLE, Utah (KSL.com) — Kaysville police officers burned during a rescue attempt of a suicidal man spoke to the public for the first time Thursday.

Officers Robert Jackson, Cade Bradshaw, Lacy Turner and Sgt. Shawn McKinnon were among the first officers to respond to a Chevron convenience store on Thursday, April 5 where a man doused himself with gasoline and lit himself on fire.

Jackson, who was the most severely injured, joined the officers at the Thursday press conference via live video conference as he continued recuperating from his burns in the hospital.

“My job is to protect lives, and if I have to risk mine to save somebody else, I’m going to do that,” he said. “I’m glad everybody made it out alive. I was scared obviously for my fellow officers and the individual. … (But), at the end of the day, we’re all alive.”

RELATED: Family of man who set himself on fire in Utah says they repeatedly tried to get mental health help

Security footage from the gas station was shown for the first time during the press conference and depicted a fairly graphic scene as police struggled with the man, Tyler Ivison, who, at one point, ran into a bathroom followed by the officers. The footage then showed a burst of flames coming from the bathroom as Ivison lit himself, after which several officers and Ivison poured out of the room while on fire.

Officers then used a fire extinguisher to put out the flames while fire rescue and paramedics came to aid Ivison and took him outside. Jackson was shown lying on the ground in a corner as a paramedic rushed to his aid.

Jackson and Bradshaw suffered second- and third-degree burns, and Jackson awaits surgery for burns on his calves.

“It’s kind of a horrific thing, watching the video,” Bradshaw said. “I think through the whole thing I was in shock, and it was hard to process everything that happened. It happened so fast, you kind of go into survival mode. My goal was trying to get out of there and get all the other officers out of there.”

RELATED: 4 Utah officers burned helping man who lit himself on fire

The officers said they talked with Ivison for a few minutes in an attempt to de-escalate the situation, but eventually realized they weren’t making much headway.

“We did talk to him for a couple minutes. I’ve taken de-escalation classes, but … we didn’t have a lot of communication, and at some point, we realized we’re not getting through to him,” Turner said, noting they were especially worried for the others in the building.

Jackson said Ivison was holding an open lighter during the confrontation. When Ivison closed the lighter, Jackson tried to grab it from him. Ivison lit himself on fire soon after.

“Officer Jackson was courageous. He saw a moment and he took it. He’s amazing and these guys are amazing,” Turner said.

The community has responded with an outpouring of love and support for the officers, bringing cookies, cards, lunches and more, according to Sgt. McKinnon. Officers from other police agencies have also volunteered to cover shifts for the injured, which has helped the short-staffed agency, Kaysville Police Chief Solomon Oberg said.

Ivison is also still in recovery, which could take months, according to his sister Kayla Faith Budge.

Budge described her brother as “the most wonderful person you’d ever meet,” though he deals with bipolar disorder and has been “going through a living hell” after four previous suicide attempts.

“We deal with people in crisis,” Bradshaw said. “I feel bad for him, and I hope he can get the help he needs, and he can recover from this as well.”

This article was originally published by KSL.com. It is used here with permission.

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