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Tulsa County Deputy Randy Pierce wore the
bulletproof vest that saved his life Friday on the advice of his 5-year-old
daughter.
"He was just going to work, and she encouraged him to wear his vest
today. He was not going to wear it, and it saved his life," Pierce's
mother, Betty Pierce, said outside a hospital emergency room.
Pierce, 36, was shot four times while trying to take a man into custody for a
mental evaluation, sheriff's office spokeswoman Elisa Gamallo
said. Pierce was taken to Tulsa Regional Medical Center, where he was in fair
condition late Friday after he had surgery to repair an artery in a fractured
arm.
Pierce sustained gunshot wounds to both of his arms and to his chest, Gamallo said. The chest shots were shielded by his
bulletproof vest.
"He has large bruises where the bullets hit him," she said.
Darrow Manning Ford, 71, was taken into custody after a 21/2-hour standoff
with authorities. Ford, who has no prior arrest record, is being held in the
Tulsa Jail on a complaint of shooting with intent to kill.
Pierce's family said he wears his bulletproof vest on occasion, depending on
what his schedule entails for that
day. His brother Chris Pierce, a fellow sheriff's deputy, said it was unusual
for Pierce's daughter to ask her father
to wear it.
"She has never said that before," he said. "She said she still
does not know why she said it."
Pierce, another deputy and four officials from the Mobile Outreach Crisis
Unit went to Ford's house at 5645 W.
25th St. about 4:15 p.m. to serve a mental-health warrant and take him to Parkside Hospital for an evaluation, Sgt.
Wayne Allen said.
"They had the power to force entry," Allen said. "But they had
trouble entering the residence, and by the time they
got in, he opened fire on them."
Ford fired at them with a .45-caliber handgun, Allen said. Pierce was hit,
and the second deputy pulled him out
of the house to the street. The deputies did not return fire.
Berryhill firefighters and first-responders arrived
at the scene and gave the deputy medical attention.
"When I got there, the deputy was on the ground," paramedic Cheri
Hurley said. "He was in a lot of pain, but he was conscious. He was talking
to us."
Deputies and Tulsa police officers evacuated residents from about a dozen
homes in the immediate area and called
in the police Special Operations Team to draw Ford out of his house.
Ford walked out of the house unarmed about 6:45 p.m. after police negotiators
talked with him over a loud
speaker, Capt. Brian Edwards said. Authorities did not have to use tear gas
or force.
The mental-health warrant was issued after deputies visited Ford at his residence
about a week ago, Edwards said.
"We don't know what sort of problems this man has, but right now he's
being arrested for a crime," Edwards said. "He
may be taken to the hospital later."
The shooting occurred on the first day of Mental Health Awareness month,
which was marked in Tulsa at a rally
sponsored by the Mental Health Association.
A neighbor, Sandy Laylock, said her husband and
Ford are good friends.
Laylock said her husband, Mike Laylock,
told her recently that someone should call the state Department of Human
Services about Ford.
"He's not been well physically or mentally," she said. "He's
stopped eating. He just doesn't take care of himself."
Ford, who is not married and reportedly does not have children, lives by
himself and does not have electricity or running water in the house, Laylock said.
"I hate that a deputy got shot," she said. "But I'm glad they
didn't shoot back. He's probably just sick."
Another neighbor, Ralph Rich, said Ford has lived there for at least 25
years.
"I've talked to him several times," Rich said. "He didn't seem
like he'd be this sort of guy."
Rich said he thinks Ford is a retired barber. Neighbors said Ford bought
things at garage sales and resold them to
make money. He also owns another house in the neighborhood that he usually rents
out.
"One thing about him -- he was filthy," Rich said. "You have to
stand upwind of him."
Nina Foster, who lives behind Ford, said she hadn't seen him for several
weeks.
"He was a real hermit," she said. "I think he stayed inside for
days at a time."
Pierce's mother was sympathetic toward Ford.
"We feel sorry for that man that shot him," she said. "We understand
that he needs help."
The family has four siblings who serve in law enforcement -- two other brothers
are Tulsa police officers. But Betty
Pierce said this was the first time one of them has been shot.
"I stand on God's promises, and I just expect him to take care of all of
my children, and he did today," she said.
Randy Pierce, who has been a deputy for five years, was awake and talking to
family members while in the emergency room, his mother said. He even made a
joke.
"He said that he guessed he would be retiring today," Chris Pierce
said. "I told him that he wasn't injured bad enough to retire."
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