From left: Arkansas Attorney General Dustin McDaniel, Hot Springs Police Department Officer First Class Shawn Lowrey and HSPD Police Chief David Flory.
HOT SPRINGS – Officer First Class Shawn Lowrey of the Hot Springs Police Department was honored as the 2014 Officer of the Year at an awards banquet held last night at the Hot Springs Convention Center by the Arkansas Association of Chiefs of Police during its 47th annual convention.
On August 20, 2014, officers of the Hot Springs Police Department responded to a 9-1-1 call that indicated multiple persons had suffered gunshot wounds allegedly as a result of a narcotics transaction and were in need of immediate police and medical assistance. Motorcycle Officer First Class Shawn Lowrey was one of the first dispatched officers to arrive at the scene. He discovered one of three suspects/victims lying in the street, gravely wounded from a gunshot wound to the upper leg. Despite the fact that Officer Lowrey had no way to determine whether the injured person was an armed aggressor or if hostile attackers were concealed nearby, he courageously proceeded through the unsecured crime scene, fully exposed to potential gunfire on his patrol motorcycle, in order to render aid to the injured victim.
Relying on his tactical/casualty care first aid training, Self-Aid, Buddy-Aid (SABA), Officer Lowrey quickly assessed the injury and correctly identified the grievous wound as a life-threatening femoral arterial bleed. Realizing with certainty that the victim would succumb to massive blood loss within minutes if unaided, Officer Lowrey, without hesitation, physical protection, or concern for his own welfare, deployed his department-issued tactical tourniquet and applied it to the victim’s leg. He then assisted LifeNet paramedics in immediately evacuating the wounded man. Later that evening, medical staff, including the trauma surgeon who operated on the victim, credited Officer Lowrey’s courageous response, rapid medical evaluation and swift application of the tourniquet for saving the victim’s life.
Since this incident, the subject that was saved has contacted Officer Lowrey to thank him for having saved his life and has expressed his desire to turn his life around, crediting Lowrey with helping in that decision.