'Running toward the fight': Officers honored for actions during 2022 incident at school

It was a frightening incident that could’ve turned out frighteningly worse.

Two of those responsible for preventing the situation from turning worse were honored Tuesday by the City of Gadsden, a little more than a year after an intruder unsuccessfully tried to enter Walnut Park Elementary School, where two summer camps were going on inside.

Officer Tim Humphries of the Gadsden Police Department and Sgt. Richard Roberts of the Rainbow City Police Department were recognized by Mayor Craig Ford during the City Council meeting, to the applause of the audience and with their colleagues lined around the council chambers’ walls looking on.

Ford cited their “extraordinary actions to protect the lives of their fellow officers, students, staff and the surrounding neighborhood.”

The incident on June 9, 2022, began when someone drove by the school in the Alabama City neighborhood and saw what appeared to be someone suspiciously trying to break into vehicles in the parking lot or the building itself. That person made a non-emergency call to Attalla police.

Roberts was on duty that day as a school resource officer, came out to see what was going on and wound up in a scuffle with the intruder.

Other emergency calls were made and Gadsden police, including Humphries, quickly responded to the school.

The altercation ended when the intruder, identified as Robert Tyler White, 32, formerly of Bunnlevel, North Carolina, but living in Gadsden at the time, was fatally shot while attempting to take an officer’s gun.

More than 50 students, plus staff, were at the school for summer literacy and parks and recreation camps.

Ford thanked the officers for their “heroic efforts and courageous actions,” which likely prevented “a more tragic outcome” and symbolized their “commitment and calling to protect and serve.”

“I’d like to thank all the guys I work with every day,” said Humphries, a 22-year veteran of the department. “If it weren’t for all of y’all, I wouldn’t be here.

“All the training we receive enabled me to do what I did that day,” he said, “along with the grace of God, which enables us to function every day.”

Gadsden Police Chief Lamar Jaggears expressed appreciation for Humphries, saying, “He took a bad situation and made it about as best as it could be. He probably saved a lot of people’s lives that day.”

Etowah County District Attorney Jody Willoughby, who said he’s known and worked with Humphries for years, also cited the value of training for such scenarios. (Gadsden City Schools’ officials did likewise in the wake of the incident, noting that doors to the school were locked that day as they should’ve been, and that other safety protocols they’d trained for were in place.)

Willoughby said “there aren’t enough awards” to thank law enforcement personnel who “get up every morning and run toward the fight and run toward the fire.” He noted that those people are often disliked and harassed by the community, but that what happened a year ago should be a reminder of those who are “honoring their badge and honoring the profession of law enforcement.”

This article originally appeared on The Gadsden Times: Officers recognized for actions in incident at Gadsden school