Lincoln LeMere helped attempt to rescue Jaime Padron from assault, Austin, Texas, April 6, 2012. Padron, 40, a police officer, tackled a suspected shoplifter who was fleeing from a store. In a brief struggle, the suspect produced a semiautomatic handgun and shot Padron twice. LeMere, 35, retail manager, and another employee of the store had been following Padron in his pursuit of the suspect, and they continued toward him after the shots were fired. Reaching Padron, LeMere placed a knee into the assailant’s side and pushed his shoulders and chest to the floor. The other employee then grasped the assailant’s gun hand to disarm him. The gun discharged a third time, the bullet striking the store ceiling. As LeMere continued to hold the assailant down, the other employee forced the assailant’s gun hand to the floor and, stepping on it, removed the weapon from his grasp and slid it away. He then called for assistance over Padron’s radio and with LeMere continued to restrain the assailant until police arrived shortly and arrested him. Padron died of a gunshot wound to his neck.
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