Hero is a member of our British Car family

[JPMINITUCSON]

We had been invited to a belated New Years Eve party this evening. The hostess fell and hurt her knee on the 31st and the party was rescheduled for tonight. One of the guests was a fellow British car collector, Bill Badger. Bill is a past president of the Jaguar club.

We arrive at the party and we are told that Bill was at the Safeway yesterday morning and was shot in the back of the head by the gunman, but will be at the party.

Bill and Sally arrived and apologized for being late. He had 7 news crews that he had to kick out of his house.

Here is the true story as told to us by Bill..

Bill was in line to talk to the congresswoman when an elderly couple cut into the line in front of him and nearly knock him over. Thirty seconds later the shooter walked up and shot the congresswoman and the couple that had cut in. He turned his head and felt an intense burning at the back of his head. The gunman continued to shoot, pivoting around in an arc.

As the gunman started to walk away, another man took a chair and attempted to hit the gunman. He missed his head and hit his shoulder knocking him down. Bill jumped on him and grabbed his left arm with one hand and put his other around the gunman's throat. Another man put his knee into the back of the gunman's head.

Bill saw blood on the gunman and did not realize it was his own blood. A woman reached over and grabbed a bullet magazine that fell to the ground as the gunman attempted to reload. Woman went into the store and got paper towels to put on the back of Bill's head.

The Pima County Sheriff's dept arrived in about ten minutes and took the gunman into custody.

Bill called his wife Sally on his cell phone and told her he had been shot at the Safeway. In Sally's panic, she forgot what Safeway he was at and had to call 911 to find out where he was. Sally goes out to pick him up and the battery in her car is dead. She calls her son who picks her up, but they can't get near to the scene due to road blocks and helicopters landing on Ina Rd.

Bill was transported to St. Mary's Hospital where Sally met him there in the ER.

We saw photos of him in the ER. Not pretty. His head was grazed by the bullet. Another inch closer and he would be in the same condition as the congresswoman, or dead. He left the ER stitched up and his head wrapped in bandages which he disposed of as soon as he was out of there. Tonight he showed up without a bandage and the ugly wound exposed.

There was not a dry eye as Bill calmly told us of the events.

Those who know Bill were not surprised by his actions. A 74 year old retired army colonel and helicopter pilot, Bill is the kind of guy you want next to you when times are tough.

He left the party to do another interview for CBS.

Quiet, soft spoken, we are proud to call him our friend and a true American Hero. God Bless You Bill!

[perrin]

I saw him on the news tonight. Glad he made it out of there, scary day for anyone close to all of that.

[JPMINITUCSON]

The degrees of separation............

Patty's mother is a retired Tucson city prosecutor and worked for several years with the late Judge John Roll. She remembers him as a very capable rookie prosecutor. She is very upset, to say the least. Our prayers go out to his family.

[MiniBot]

Wow Jon, Thanks for posting this.....

[MINImama]

Please pass along our appreciation to Bill for his courageous acts in the midst of such chaos. It is the brave souls who sprung into action & did the right thing, amid such horror, that we should all be talking about, for they are the notable, and noble ones, in this heart-breaking story.

The tragedy that occurred on Saturday is unspeakable. Chief Judge Roll is my boss' boss, so the grief is close.

Bill's selfless acts to help others should be a reminder to all of us...be good to one another.