At this point, the cop-killer who coldly, meekly, and inexplicably assassinated two Gilchrist County sheriff’s deputies in Trenton, Florida on April 19, 2018 appears to have been a ghost among us.
On Tuesday, both Sgt. Noel Ramirez, 29, and Deputy Taylor Lindsey, 25, were laid to rest. Today, Gilchrist County Sheriff Bobby Schultz updated already-scant details ascribing to the motive of a 59-year-old cop-killer whose existence would seem an anomaly typically influenced by off-the-grid concepts.
Sheriff Schultz also wrote an impassioned plea to anyone out there who may be harboring some sort of hatred and/or burdened by mental illness. Speaking about the cop-killer and on behalf of the law enforcement community, his words entailed the following sentiments: “He had no social media or online presence that unmasks him. To date, no clear motive has been established. And whatever we ultimately learn, no motive could ever be enough for the families of Noel and Taylor. What we do know is that he left his home on Thursday, April 19, 2018 with the ability and apparent intent to kill people. He was armed with two rifles, a handgun, and ample ammunition for each weapon. When he was finished at the Ace China restaurant, he shot himself in his vehicle in the parking lot, just around the corner from where Taylor and Noel died.
“There is information in our community that he went to a former employer’s business before he killed our deputies. We can confirm that he did go that day to a business in Newberry where [he] was employed roughly two and a half (2 ½) years ago. We do not know what his intent was in going there, but as employees approached him, as cowards like him will often do, he fled before they reached him.
“The investigation has identified but a few contacts with law enforcement over a period of roughly 40 years, most of which are traffic offenses. These incidents were so widely spaced by time, distance, and apparent relevance, that no connections or indications of future violence like this were identified nor could they have been linked together.
“The violence he perpetrated on Noel and Taylor can never be explained. They were simply assassinated while having a meal.” As we attempt to comprehend, simply donning a badge while having a meal certainly does not beckon violence, let alone execution. Yet the good guys were blanked by a bad guy. Silent and stone-cold assassination of two cops by a closeted American citizen befits aspects of some form of mental disarray. It doesn’t justify anything, but it does lend to the undercurrents leading to grotesque behavior and attaining a better grasp on cloaked psyches before they erupt.
Murdered for Wearing a Badge
Commendably, to his and the credit to those who assume the challenges as law enforcement officers, Sheriff Schultz reiterated a sort of olive-branch testimony, saying, “The law enforcement community nationwide answers a call to serve – no matter what the problem. We are tasked now, more than ever, with identifying, intervening, and protecting those who are in crisis.
“Law enforcement as a whole is getting better at identifying those who are battling mental health issues. We ask only one, simple thing: PLEASE STOP SHOOTING. Give us, the Deputies, Police Officers and First Responders who arrive a chance to help you. Please don’t shoot us or anyone else. We want to help you. Let us help you. Please don’t shoot us.” That is about as heartfelt a police plea as ever you will read or hear…compelled by a seamless string of police funerals.
Despite many misperceptions about law enforcement officers, they are responding to your every Mayday. In an echo reminiscent of the see something, say something credo, Sheriff Schultz reminded folks, in the name of slain cops as well as citizens who found themselves confronting evil in unanticipated circumstances and environments, that everyone plays a role. It is not just the cops who administer aid to the downtrodden they come across on duty. It is civilians going about their daily lives who also have a set of eyes and ears to see the signs and hear the calls from people who may harken help before they recklessly derail and violently unhinge.
Indeed, it takes a village. It has always been and will infinitely remain a utopian concept that police will handle every broken piece of a society. Evolution is a grand thing, but it is not a cure-all either. To sit idly by and think, wish, and hope a discomfiting human interaction will merely self-correct is tantamount to irresponsibility. In this case, it may have culminated with the death of innocent parties who, had interventions been implemented, likely would be alive to mainly chow on chow mien before responding to the next call for help. Somewhere along the way, the cycle was broken. Two cops were sacrificed because of missed detail(s). Primarily, a coward opted to help himself, but in the most counterintuitive way possible.
Perhaps someone thought someone else’s peculiar behavior was no biggie. Not everyone pockets a PhD in psychology or keenly masters applied behavioral analysis (ABA). However, sometimes it takes the most simple act of willingness to listen, to allow another to get words out, or even to simply let others know you are there and authentically crutch-worthy. There is usually at least one person with whom a seemingly troubled individual will develop rapport, trust, and a bridge to higher ground when mental floodwaters gush and angst aggregates.
As Sheriff Schultz beckoned, “Let us make a difference.” Public safety professionals, although numbering under one million nationwide, are always readied to respond with resolve. Does it always go smoothly? No, sometimes goals have hiccups. Do we just give up? Nope, we don’t want that empty bag. We reorganize and redirect. Can people from all walks of life find common ground and, together, formulate optimum covenants? You betcha.
And it must never…never, ever resort to malice or violence when bad days are upon us all. Preservation is mutually benefiting. Let resonate the words we read earlier: “Please don’t shoot us or anyone else. We want to help you. Let us help you. Please don’t shoot us.” It is a heartfelt invitation without expiration, days after burying two more cops.
