Sgt. Gale Updates....UPDATE on page 3(012408) - Page 2

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[ARCHIVED THREAD] - Sgt. Gale Updates....UPDATE on page 3(012408) (Page 2 of 2)

Posted: 1/3/2008 3:24:03 AM EDT

[#1]

Quoted:
Easy way to look at it. Murder is aggravated assault with one more piece of evidence, a dead body. Conversely Aggravated Assault is murder incomplete.

I have to disagree.... Agg Asault could be a simple fistfight between two buddies....

One statement here guys.

Legal and Illegal DOES NOT run paralell with right and wrong. - PERIOD

Posted: 1/4/2008 10:47:56 AM EDT

[#2]

Officer utters first words after stabbing
'I love you' to mother
By Joe Johnson | [email protected] | Story updated at 10:21 PM on Thursday, January 3, 2008

An Athens-Clarke police officer who nearly was stabbed to death last month and spent three weeks in a coma spoke her first words this week, telling her mother she loved her.

"Of course, it was wonderful to hear her and know that she clearly recognized me," Linda Gale said Thursday.

Sgt. Courtney Gale, 31, was off duty, working as a security guard at the Alps Road Kroger the night of Dec. 11 when Steven Anthony Eberhart, a man with a history of mental illness, allegedly attacked her.

Gale's femoral artery was severed, and she would have bled to death if a nurse who was shopping at the supermarket hadn't helped, according to police.

Gale underwent several surgeries and nearly lost a leg. She remains in the intensive care unit at St. Mary's Hospital.

Linda Gale is optimistic about her daughter's recovery.

"Other than saying, 'I love you, Mom,' she's not making a lot of sense, just trying to make a lot of words," Linda Gale said. Doctors are not sure what, if any, lasting mental damage her daughter will have, she added.

"None of us at this point know what the eventual outcome will be," she said.

Last week, doctors inserted a tracheotomy tube to help Gale breathe, and a feeding tube that allows food to be pumped directly into her stomach. The procedures allowed doctors to remove Gale from a ventilator.

This week nurses sat the wounded officer in a chair for the first time and pushed her around before returning her to her bed in ICU.

Doctors have been discussing what's next for Gale, who remains on dialysis to reduce strain on her kidneys.

"It looks like they want to move her to another facility, not an ICU unit, but someplace where she can continue receiving dialysis," said Linda Gale.

Meanwhile, supporters and strangers continue to chip in to help pay Gale's medical expenses.

A fundraiser at the Kroger store where Gale was attacked raised $10,588 through a barbecue and a silent auction. A separate fundraising campaign at all Kroger stores in Athens-Clarke County and Jefferson, which will continue through Jan. 12, is allowing customers to round up grocery totals to the next dollar and donate the difference to Gale.

An ongoing collection at Athens branches of SunTrust bank has topped $40,000.

Court proceedings in the case against Eberhart - who faces aggravated assault on a police officer and other felony charges - were placed on hold when a Clarke County Superior Court judge ordered him to be evaluated and treated at a state mental hospital.

Published in the Athens Banner-Herald on 010408

Posted: 1/12/2008 10:51:07 AM EDT

[#3]

It has been 31 days since Sergeant Gale suffered wanton, extensive, and
life threatening injuries. Please pray for Courtney's continuous
improvement. Until we get her out of St. Mary's, I will continue daily
visits to the hospital on behalf of the fine men and women of the police
department and the Athens-Clarke County Unified Government. As I have
reported before, Courtney faces a "marathon" in her recovery, but as we all
know she has the inner fortitude of perseverance. Below is a pasted
message posted this evening by Courtney's family.

FRIDAY, JANUARY 11, 2008 08:05 PM, CST Courtney continues to
progress in her recovery, but it was decided today that she will remain in
St. Mary's ICU for the near future, as she doesn't have enough muscle
strength for a rehabilitation hospital yet. However, at St. Mary's she is
working with occupational, physical, and speech therapists until she
regains enough strength to be transferred. Her trach was removed this week,
so she is talking more and working on her swallowing in order to be able to
eat solid food. In the meantime she continues to have a feeding tube. We
can not understand much of what she is saying but were encouraged today
when she told her mother to “be safe.”Earlier this week tubes were inserted
into both her lungs to drain excess fluid, and they remain there as a
precaution. Her kidneys continue to be a concern because they are not
functioning properly, yet our patience and hope persevere.

Posted: 1/13/2008 12:59:34 PM EDT

[#4]

While that sounds like a lot of bad stuff in the article, those are HUGE steps toward recovery. HUGE, particularly considering the fact that she nearly died, nearly lost a leg, and they weren't sure what, if any, mental capacity she would keep or regain.

Posted: 1/17/2008 6:33:51 PM EDT

[#5]

Yeah! The kidneys seem to have awakened. Courtney is off dialysis, and her catheter was
removed. She has had an irregular heartbeat recently, but an echocardiogram indicated that
her heart should be fine. Yesterday she also had a test to check her swallowing ability and
was given the okay to begin eating soft foods. She had vanilla ice cream and a coke last
night!

Posted: 1/18/2008 2:52:17 AM EDT

[#6]

Thanks for the updates Kyle. Sounds like Sgt. Gale is doing better and better

. I hope she makes a full recovery and gets the chance to see the dirtbag that did this put in prison for the rest of his life.

Posted: 1/18/2008 3:24:20 AM EDT

[#7]

Good news!

Posted: 1/18/2008 4:25:41 AM EDT

[#8]

Were they mixed together as a coke float? either way thats great news.

Posted: 1/19/2008 9:01:19 PM EDT

[#9]

Letter to the Paper from Chief Lumpkin:

To the citizens and visitors of Athens-Clarke County, and to all who have expressed concern and support for the welfare of Athens-Clarke police Sgt. Courtney Gale:

It has been 40 days since Sgt. Gale suffered wanton, extensive, and life-threatening injuries while she was working an off-duty security job. A heinous incident like this demonstrates the real and substantial dangers our police officers face daily as they selflessly and bravely protect our community in an urban environment.

Out of such an evil act as Sgt. Gale endured, however, it is possible to see the good in the Athens-Clarke County community. Good Samaritans who struggled with the assailant were instrumental in saving Courtney's life, as was the nurse who applied the tourniquet, the EMTs who transported her, and the surgeons, physicians, and nurses who continue to treat her. Her family has received professional, timely, and compassionate support from the hospital's administrative staff. They are certainly appreciative of the love demonstrated by the entire community.

Sgt. Gale has received excellent and comprehensive medical treatment from the staff of St. Mary's Hospital. Courtney continues to make incremental progress in her lengthy journey toward recovery. The cost of her excellent medical care is being covered by the workers' compensation policies of Kroger and the Athens-Clarke County government.

The public should understand that Sgt. Gale's health insurance, provided by the unified government, was never intended as a source of coverage for an on-the-job injury. The workers' compensation insurance policies of the two respective employers are the planned and appropriate source of insurance coverage for an event like this.

As a lieutenant or higher-ranking officer in this community since 1977 (except for 1992-1996), I can attest that the local governments of this community have never emotionally or fiscally failed police officers injured in an "off-duty" status. You can be assured the Athens-Clarke County government will not fail Sgt. Gale.

The outpouring of support for Courtney has been comforting and reassuring to her family, as well as an inspiration to those who serve in the Athens Clarke-County Police Department and regional law enforcement agencies. The fundraising efforts and corporate contributions of housing and other items needed by the family are especially inspiring.

Although Sgt. Gale faces a marathon in her recovery, we all know she has inner fortitude and perseverance. The Gale family, the Athens-Clarke County Police Department, and regional law enforcement agencies are humbled by your cards, wishes, monetary donations and prayers. The family and I request your continued and sustained support during Sgt. Gale's prolonged recovery.

On behalf of the outstanding men and women of the Athens-Clarke County Police Department, I salute you individually and collectively for your support of Sgt. Gale since that dreadful night of Dec. 11, 2007. I'm confident you will sustain that support during Courtney's many months of recovery to come.

• Lumpkin is chief of the Athens-Clarke County Police Department.

Letter of Appreciation from the Family

The family of Athens-Clarke County police Sgt. Courtney Gale wants to thank the Athens community for its overwhelming outpouring of support, warm thoughts and prayers since the brutal attack that happened to her on Dec. 11, 2007. We are amazed and grateful for the heroics of the courageous shoppers and employees in the Kroger store on the night of the assault, including the emergency room nurse who saved Courtney's life.

The skilled doctors, nurses and staff at St. Mary's Hospital have provided, and continue to give, Courtney excellent treatment, and we are indebted to them for their compassion and professionalism.

Among the countless other unnamed supporters, we especially appreciate the help from The Athens-Clarke police department and government, Kroger, the Holiday Inn, SunTrust bank, the Southern Broadcasting Company, Omni Club and the American Red Cross.

Thanks also to the University of Georgia women's rugby club, the Oconee County Sheriff's Office, Athens Hobby Center, organizers of the upcoming barbecue and benefit ride and local businesses for fundraising efforts contributing to Courtney's assistance fund.

The innumerable encouraging messages, cards, flowers, food, stuffed animals and gift cards have sustained and comforted us during this difficult time, allowing us to concentrate our energies on healing Courtney. We ask for your continued support and prayers in the coming months and year as she endures her expected prolonged recovery process.

Again, words can not truly express our heartfelt thanks to the Athens community.

Sincerely,

Linda Gale, Kimberly Gale Patrick, Lisa Davol, Herb Wenzel, Jerry and Barbara Gale, Dan Patrick, Deloris and Charles Davol

Posted: 1/20/2008 6:09:27 AM EDT

[#10]

I've been wondering. Does the outpouring of support indicate that officer injuries, and especially life threatening officer injuries, are relatively rare?

Posted: 1/20/2008 9:30:49 AM EDT

[#11]

MOST humans have the ability to move thru each day thinking only of themselves. These people(and yes me also) dont't see the terrible things happening to others until some one else( Kyle and others) say"stop..look what has happened to some one we know that was trying to help YOU and got messed up them selves" If we just heard this report of an Officerr being stabed, most of us would say "damn that sucks...honey what's on TV tonight ?" But, some people and thank GOD for them, say"damn that sucks, let's make a difference and DO SOMETHING". AND SOME DID!

I think I was trying to say...this happens to often. An Officer gets hurt trying to do their job everyday. Shot, car accident, drunk driver, drunk fighter and etc.. A lot of injuries never get mentioned on the news.

Posted: 1/20/2008 2:39:46 PM EDT

[#12]

Here is another incident that happened recently. Ironically at the exact same location(Kroger).

A woman who police said grabbed a gun from an off-duty Athens-Clarke officer and tried pointing it at him during a scuffle in a westside supermarket Monday night was already facing a charge that she stabbed a man in another store last year.

The most recent incident happened in the Alps Road Kroger store, where a different off-duty officer working as a security guard was nearly stabbed to death in December by a man with a history of mental illness.

During Monday’s scuffle, shortly before 7 p.m., Senior Police Officer Charlie Snyder was trying to arrest 20-year-old Shekeena Rena Davis on outstanding felony warrants when Davis ran and then struggled with the officer, grabbing Snyder’s handgun from its holster, according to police.

Davis

The officer managed to disable his pistol’s magazine so it could not be used when Davis tried to point the weapon at him, police said, and Snyder was able to subdue the woman after pepper-spraying her.

Davis was charged with aggravated assault on a law enforcement officer, battery on a law enforcement officer, felony obstruction and removing a firearm from a police officer, and was also being held on a warrant out of Barrow County.

Snyder and Davis were both treated for minor injuries at local hospitals.

Though Davis has been arrested nine times by Athens-Clarke police since 2005, the Coleridge Court resident had not been charged with a violent crime until last Feb. 12.

Davis was with a boyfriend in a Family Dollar on Lexington Road when they began arguing over Davis’ accusations that he was dating someone else, according to police.

Snyder

Davis allegedly took a kitchen knife from a store shelf, ripped open the packaging and stabbed the man, police said.

Davis pleaded not guilty to aggravated assault in May.

The woman also has a history of arrests in Barrow County.

Her confrontation with Snyder happened in the same Kroger where Athens-Clarke police Sgt. Courtney Gale was nearly killed Dec. 12 by a man who attacked her with a kitchen knife he stole from the store.

Police said 44-year-old Steven Eberhart stabbed Gale 10 times until customers and a store manager intervened.

A woman who grabbed an off-duty officer's gun Monday in the Alps Road Kroger stabbed her boyfriend with a stolen kitchen knife last February in the Family Dollar store on Lexington Road, Athens-Clarke police said.

The woman faced an aggravated assault charge for the Feb. 12 stabbing when she scuffled Monday night with an Athens-Clarke police officer who was working as a security guard in the same store where police Sgt. Courtney Gale was stabbed 10 times last month.

Just before 7 p.m. Monday, Senior Police Officer Charlie Snyder was trying to arrest the woman on outstanding felony warrants when she ran then struggled with the officer, grabbing Snyder's handgun from its holster, according to police.

The woman, Shekeena Rena Davis, had her finger on the trigger as she tried pointing the gun at the officer, police said.

Snyder, however, pushed a release mechanism that caused his pistol's magazine to fall, making the weapon unable to be fired.

Snyder was able to subdue Davis after pepper-spraying her, but Davis continued to resist being handcuffed when an on-duty officer arrived and helped make the arrest, police said.

Davis, 20, was charged with aggravated assault on a law enforcement officer, battery on a law enforcement officer, felony obstruction and removing a firearm from a police officer, and also was being held on a warrant from Barrow County.
MULTIMEDIA
PDF: A copy of the police report filed after Monday's Kroger assault. (Editor's note: The name of the suspect, Shekeena Rena Davis, is incorrectly written on the report)

View document (204k)

Snyder and Davis both were treated for minor injuries at local hospitals.

Maj. Carter Greene, commander of the Athens-Clarke police Patrol Division, said Snyder's actions averted a second tragedy at the Kroger, where Gale was nearly killed Dec. 11 while working off duty as a security guard.

"Obviously, we would have preferred it had not gone down that way, but (Davis) chose to react the way she did when (Snyder) confronted her about having the outstanding felony warrants," Greene said. "We're glad it turned out the way it did and no one was seriously hurt."

One of Davis' relatives told Snyder that Davis was wanted, and Davis ran as Snyder, who was in uniform, radioed headquarters to confirm the warrants, police said.

Though Davis has been arrested nine times by Athens-Clarke police since 2005, mostly for theft and forgery, the Coleridge Court resident had not been charged with a violent crime until Feb. 12.

Davis was with a boyfriend in the Family Dollar next to Wal-Mart when Davis accused him of dating someone else and they began arguing, according to police.

Davis allegedly took a kitchen knife from a store shelf, ripped open the packaging and stabbed the man so severely he was taken to a hospital for treatment, police said.

Her confrontation with Snyder on Monday night happened in the same Kroger store where Gale was nearly killed Dec. 11 by a man who attacked her with a kitchen knife he stole from the shelves.

Police said 44-year-old Steven Eberhart stabbed Gale 10 times until customers and a store manager intervened.

Gale, 31, who also was working as a store security guard, remains hospitalized after emerging from a coma Christmas Day.

Eberhart was charged with aggravated assault on a law enforcement officer, aggravated assault and felony obstruction of a law enforcement officer.

Eberhart, who had been acting bizarrely in the store when approached by Gale, had threatened a neighbor with butcher knives two years before and spent months in a state mental hospital.

Gale, whose femoral artery was severed, would have died from loss of blood if a nurse who was shopping in the store had not rendered immediate aid, according to police.

Posted: 1/20/2008 2:41:18 PM EDT

[#13]

In the incident(quoted above), it was determined that the holster of the Ofc failed. It was an OLD holster that failed. The gun actually fell out of the holster as they struggled.

Lesson to be learned:
Make sure that you're equipment is functional and in GOOD condition. Being worn in isn't necessarily a good thing. Also ALWAYS wear your vest while working. Make sure you know everything about your gun and how to operate it. This officer saved his own life because he knew that the gun couldn't fire without the magazine inserted.

Posted: 1/24/2008 5:37:26 AM EDT

[#14]

This Friday, Courtney is tentatively scheduled to be transferred to the
nationally renowned spinal cord and brain injury rehabilitation hospital,
Shepherd Center, in Atlanta. She has been making impressive progress in
her recovery this past week, showing flashes of her humorous personality,
working on using a fork and spoon to eat, and conversing with us regularly;
however, she will need to undergo intensive physical, cognitive, and
occupational therapies to regain her small motor skills, core strength,
ability to walk, improve her short term memory, and other abilities. The
full extent of her cognitive issues will be evaluated at the hospital. We
are very encouraged that she is ready to move on to this next stage of her
recovery process.

Posted: 1/24/2008 8:19:27 AM EDT

[#15]

GREAT NEWS!!

Posted: 1/24/2008 1:58:41 PM EDT

[#16]

Good to hear. Best wishes to the officer.

Posted: 1/24/2008 7:42:52 PM EDT

[#17]

It's great to hear she's doing so much better. I pray she makes a full recovery soon.

However, am I reading that article correctly? Are they trying to say the guy who did this is going to get a psych eval and possibly be ruled insane and not have to face real punishment? They are already saying he has a history of mental illness... sounds like he's going to get out of jail.

Posted: 1/25/2008 6:37:29 AM EDT

[#18]

Quoted:
It's great to hear she's doing so much better. I pray she makes a full recovery soon.

However, am I reading that article correctly? Are they trying to say the guy who did this is going to get a psych eval and possibly be ruled insane and not have to face real punishment? They are already saying he has a history of mental illness... sounds like he's going to get out of jail.

More than likely thats what will happen.

Sgt. Gale left to go to the Shepherd Center this morning at 9AM.

Posted: 1/25/2008 7:21:23 PM EDT

[#19]

Quoted:

Quoted:
It's great to hear she's doing so much better. I pray she makes a full recovery soon.

However, am I reading that article correctly? Are they trying to say the guy who did this is going to get a psych eval and possibly be ruled insane and not have to face real punishment? They are already saying he has a history of mental illness... sounds like he's going to get out of jail.

More than likely thats what will happen.

Sgt. Gale left to go to the Shepherd Center this morning at 9AM.

I'm glad to hear that she is doing better. However, I will say that this whole "mentally challenged" bullshit is getting lame. If he did the crime he should do the time. No ifs, ands, or buts!!!

[ARCHIVED THREAD] - Sgt. Gale Updates....UPDATE on page 3(012408) (Page 2 of 2)

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