Two Police Officers Are Considered Heroes After Rescuing An Elderly Man

COLUMBUS, Miss. (WCBI)- Two Columbus Police Officers are being hailed as heroes.

When a tornado struck the Friendly City nearly two weeks ago, a Columbus man found himself trapped inside a building, buried under debris.

Thankfully for him, Officer Roger Tate and Corporal Roman Sones were able to safely get him out of the building.

Body cam footage shows the intense moments during the rescue.

“911 called us and said that a supervisor for the building had an employee that was trapped and he had already spoke to his employee over the phone,” said Corporal Roman Sones, who was one of the officers that helped rescue the man. “They gave us the address and where they’re going to be located.”

With the tornado causing a power outage and leaving behind significant damage all throughout town, the two officers truly were walking into the unknown.

“We had to leave our vehicles some ways back and then find a roundabout way to run through the downfall,” said Sones.

Braving the elements, the two officers used their flashlights to help them make their way through the scattered debris and find their way to the demolished building.

“It didn’t look like it would be anything left the way the building was down, we didn’t think we would be able to find anybody,” Sones recalled. “We didn’t know that he’d be in there, but I guess he heard the other officer and I talking to each other then he yelled out for us and then we saw him.”

Once they spotted him, Tate and Sones lifted cinder blocks, door frames and other debris that had the elderly man trapped.

“The fact that he was still alive, that was the utmost important thing,” said Sones. “I was also amazed that given his age and his injuries that he was able to at least walk with help, but that was a big relief knowing that he wasn’t critically injured or seriously wounded in that nature.”

It took officers roughly 15 minutes get the man out of the collapsed building.

Once rescued, the officers created a makeshift bridge to walk him out of the damaged area and get him to a hospital.

“An ambulance was trying to get to us because power lines were down, there was no way they could make it,” Sones described. “Where we were at we could see the ambulance two or three blocks away that was stuck, so Officer Tate his car was closer, he was able to put him in the back of that and he drove him to the ambulance himself.”

Corporal Sones said he’s thankful that their efforts helped lead to a successful rescue.

However, while many others are calling it a heroic act, Sones said he was simply doing his job.

“More or less, that’s what a job is,” Sones expressed. “It does say protect and serve on the badge and the vehicle, so I wouldn’t say hero, I would just say good employee.”

The victim was bleeding and did receive some cuts while being trapped inside the building.

However, he’s now doing fine and is stable.

The Columbus City Council recognized Officer Tate and Corporal Sones  and awarded them a Certificate of Commendation for their outstanding job performance.