“We know that the next call could be the one that changes your life. It could be the next thing that ends your life.”
That’s what policeman Maj. David Huff told CNN, referring to a fateful June day in 2013 when the Midwest City Police Department in Oklahoma received calls from a Walmart grocery store, where a man had taken a little girl hostage.
Huff and other detectives raced to the scene to find Sammie Wallace holding a knife to 2-year-old Zoey Keating. After half an hour, the situation deteriorated as Wallace began a 60-second countdown to end Zoey’s life, and Huff realized he couldn’t wait any longer. He moved quickly behind Zoey and fired a single shot into Wallace’s head, saving the girl’s life and earning the Medal of Valor.
“There is a lot of tough stuff to deal with. Taking someone else’s life,” said Huff. But to Zoey, he will always be a “superhero.”
