A Texas mom is being hailed a hero for shielding her son from bullets
after she was struck in the leg during Thursday’s deadly sniper attack
at a peaceful protest rally in downtown Dallas.
Shetamia Taylor, 37, was attending the demonstration
— where people were protesting against the recent fatal police
shootings of two black men — when shots rang out, killing five police
officers.
Taylor, who was there with her four sons, ages 12 to 17, was shot in the calf while shielding her 15-year-old son on the ground.
“She jumped on top to cover him on the ground as she
pushed him in between two cars in the curb,” Taylor’s sister, Theresa
Williams, told local station WFAA. “All she could think about was her
other three boys — where are they at.”
Taylor lay on the ground covering her son until
police rescued the two. Taylor’s three other sons had scattered during
the shooting.
“She’s not so much worried about the gunshot wound
she has on her leg,” Williams told WFAA. “We’re watching the news in the
hospital room, and all she can do is say, ‘Lord, be with those families
of those police officers.’ And that’s what she kept repeating.”
Taylor was one of two civilians injured during the
sniper attack that struck 10 Dallas officers, killing four police
officers and one transit officer.
Taylor underwent surgery early Friday and is expected to make a full recovery.
The demonstration Thursday was meant to protest the
recent deadly police shootings of Alton Sterling in Louisiana and
Philando Castile in Minnesota.
Micah Johnson, 25, of Mesquite, Texas, a U.S. Army
veteran who served in Afghanistan, was identified as the shooter. He was
killed by a police-detonated bomb following a three-hour standoff.
