Kristina Ripatti will probably never walk again
LAPD SWAT/EMT officers credited with saving her life
from
http://abclocal.go.com/kabc/story?section=local&id=4244638 (includes some video links)
Officer Remains Hospitalized After Shot by Robbery Suspect
Los Angeles, June 6, 2006 - LAPD Chief William Bratton said today that officers and paramedics "performed a miracle" in saving the life of a policewoman, who was shot by a robbery suspect and probably will never walk again.
Officer Kristina Ripatti, 33, was wounded about 10:30 p.m. Saturday near Exposition Park during a confrontation with a gunman -- identified as James Fenton McNeal, 52 -- who was then fatally shot by her partner.
The officers and paramedics who came to the aid of Ripatti -- the wife of another LAPD officer -- "will have the satisfaction for the rest of their lives of understanding that they performed a miracle that night," Bratton told the Police Commission.
Ripatti, 33, "was dying," the police chief said. "No pulse ... and they brought her back."
She remains hospitalized in critical but stable condition, Bratton said. Late this afternoon, Ripatti's husband spoke to reporters at California Hospital Medical Center.
"At this point, the doctors are saying she won't be able to walk," Officer Tim Pierce told ABC7 Eyewitness News. "She will be a paraplegic from the chest down."
He said a bullet hit her spinal cord.
Ripatti, a 10-year LAPD veteran, and her partner, Officer Joe Meyer, 35, were patrolling in the neighborhood when McNeal ran in front of their patrol car on Leighton Avenue, police said.
The officers followed on foot, and when McNeal got to the front porch of a nearby home, he turned and fired at them, wounding Ripatti, who was wearing a protective vest. Meyer returned fire, killing McNeal, who had a lengthy criminal history, according to police.
Sgt. Robin Brown, a plainclothes officer, arrived moments after Meyer radioed for help, and the two worked "frantically" to stop Ripatti's bleeding, according to an LAPD statement.
"As luck had it, four SWAT officers had just finished working a crime suppression detail in the area and were at the Southwest police station, two blocks south of the shooting," the statement says. "Within one minute of the help call, the four SWAT officers ... were at Ripatti's side with their medical bags. All four officers are emergency medical technicians."
EMT-trained officers Ralph Ward, 51, Gary Koba, 43, Gil Pinel, 42, and Keith Bertonneau, 37, took over from Meyer and Brown in treating Ripatti's injuries.
One bullet had gone through one of her arms and another entered her chest near the armpit, above the protective vest.
"The officers' actions in aid of their comrade were nothing less than extraordinary," Bratton said.
The chief also recognized the efforts of Los Angeles Fire Department paramedics Gerardo Puga and Adrian Vasquez in saving the officer's life.
"If it weren't for the immediate actions and professional training of these men, we would have lost Kristina that night," Bratton said. "Not only did they save the life of a fellow police officer, they saved the life of a mother, daughter and wife."
Eighteen Los Angeles police officers have been fired upon in 11 incidents since January, compared with six such incidents last year during the same period, according to the LAPD. Ripatti is the first LAPD officer to be hit by gunfire this year.
"Typically, this commission, the department and the public focus quite a bit of attention on the issue of violence," Police Commission President John Mack said. "Often, the focus is on violence in use-of-force incidents by officers ... but we don't focus much on violence against police officers, and we have a very, very serious tragic incident here."
Bratton said the shooting of McNeal -- a career criminal -- was justified. Just before encountering the officers, McNeal robbed a gas station, a crime captured on security video, according to authorities.
"We live in very dangerous times, and our officers understand the dangers that they face," Bratton said, "but we can't outfit officers from head to toe like knights. It's just not practical because we live in a very hot climate, but we have what we believe to be the best products in the market."
On the morning she was shot, Ripatti and her husband held hands as they participated in the LAPD's annual Memorial Run at Dockweiler Beach in Playa del Rey, according to Bratton. The event marks the end of Police Officers' Memorial Month, which recognizes those killed or injured in the line of duty.
"The tragic irony is that 12 hours later she would be shot, near death, with her husband standing by her once again, hand in hand," Bratton said. "I've witnessed a lot during my career," the chief said, "but tragic incidents like this hold a special impact because it does put a human face on these police officers."
Pierce, who has been by his wife's bedside since the shooting, said "Kristina is strong. She will recover to the best of her abilities and we will adapt to it and have a good life together. If anybody can make it happen, we will."
He said he was able to talk to his wife, mother of their 15-month-old daughter, "and tell her I love her and give her a kiss before she got into the ambulance."
He said he followed the ambulance to the hospital, but didn't think she was going to make it there alive.
"It was absolutely scary. I looked at my wife on the ground," he recalled.
