Caddo Parish deputy honored as ‘Hero of the Year’

By Brittany Breeding

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    CADDO PARISH, Louisiana (KTBS) — It’s been nearly a year since a mass shooting at a Fourth of July party in Shreveport left four people dead and injured seven others. Now, a Caddo Parish sheriff’s deputy is being honored for his heroic actions that night. He’s being named by one organization as the Hero of the Year for Louisiana.

“I was a little shocked. I didn’t know if I fully deserved it,” said Caddo Parish sheriff’s Deputy Tyler Lummus.

Lummus didn’t know how to react when he found out the Forty & Eight veterans organization had named him Hero of the Year for Louisiana. He was honored for his efforts during two separate incidents. The first was the Fourth of July mass shooting in Shreveport last year that left four people dead and seven injured.

“If we got into something major I know the Shreveport Police Department would offer their help,” said Lummus. “There were a lot of people there. I had to park my car pretty much off of Martin Luther King to get back to the area of the shooting, the crime scene.”

When he got closer to where the shooting happened, he found a woman who had been shot.

“I instantly took over lifesaving measures. I placed the female in a recovery position and held pressure on her wound to stop the bleeding until the fire department arrived a few minutes later,” said Lummus.

Thanks to those efforts, that woman survived.

A few months later, Lummus put his life on the line to save a woman and child. A man, later identified as Nathan Grice, was shooting at deputies.

“We didn’t want this man to come after this woman and child,” said Lummus. “We didn’t know where this guy was. He would shoot a few rounds, and then he would move to a different location.”

Lummus was able to get to the woman and child who were trying to get to safety.

“We came to a break in cover where we had to cross an opening. And as soon as we stepped out into the opening, we began receiving fire,” said Lummus.

So, he stepped between them and the gunman.

“In times like that, you really don’t have time to think, so it’s not like you’re feeling scared, you’re just doing your job,” said Lummus.

Everyone made it out. Lummus said he was relying on his training in both of those situations.

“I would never want to see a hurt baby or hurt innocent person. So, I’m glad I could get them out of there safely,” said Lummus.

Lummus is now up for Forty & Eight’s National Hero of the Year award. The group is a by invitation, honor society of U.S. veterans committed to charitable and patriotic aims.

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