Jeffrey A. Hilke

Jeffrey A. Hilke helped to save a woman from assault, Eldon, Missouri, April 21, 2021. The woman, 51, and several family members were at a private service in the chapel of a funeral home when an armed assailant, 55, entered, approached the woman, and attempted to force her outside. The woman refused and resisted, and he pulled a handgun out of his coat pocket and pointed it at her. The woman and a female funeral home assistant screamed. Hilke, 47, funeral director, was alerted and responded to the chapel, then seeing the man holding the weapon pointed upward. Hilke ran to the assailant and pushed him against a wall, grasping the weapon. The woman hid under a nearby table and tilted it to use it as a shield. A male relative of the assailant also responded, approached the assailant, and also grasped the weapon. The assailant refused to release the weapon, and a struggle ensued between the three men. About then, another relative told the woman to leave, and she retreated outside. The men fell, knocking over the table, and landing on the floor, with Hilke’s chest landing atop a concrete base for a memorial stone. The assailant landed facedown on Hilke’s back, and the assailant’s relative landed on top of the assailant’s back, with Hilke and the assailant both maintaining a grip on the weapon. Hearing Hilke gasp for air, the relative stood up. About then, the weapon fired, with the bullet ricocheting off the floor and a chair then into the ceiling. The weapon’s magazine fell out of the gun to the floor, and the assailant reached for another magazine in his pocket. The relative held the assailant’s arm down to prevent him from reloading the weapon. At some point, the others had retreated outside to safety. Police responded, and the assailant still wouldn’t release the gun. A responding officer stepped on the assailant’s hand and used pepper spray and the assailant then let go of the weapon. Hilke pushed the gun farther away. The assailant was taken into custody and was later convicted and sentenced to 34 years in prison. The woman and others were not injured. Hilke suffered a broken sternum and bruised ribs and received medical treatment from a physician.