FORT BENNING, Ga. (WRBL) -- Two U.S. Army Rangers who acted heroically last month during a downtown Columbus shooting were honored Tuesday afternoon at Forth Benning.
On Jun 11, Sgt. Michael D. Abuan and Staff Sgt. Jason R. Palma - both of the 75th Ranger Regiment, 3rd Battalion, Alpha Company - were eating with friends at The Loft on Broadway. They heard multiple gunshots and moved into place to help two shooting victims.
Columbus Mayor Skip Henderson recognized the two soldiers in front of the Ranger Memorial, reading a proclamation calling Tuesday Sgt. Michael D. Abuan and Staff Sgt. Jason R. Palma Day.
The proclamation reads, in part, “As people were crowding toward the back of the restaurant for safety, these Army Rangers made their way to the front of the building to ensure that civilians were safe; and upon arriving at the entrance to the restaurant and despite not knowing the location of the shooter, Abuan and Palma left the safety of the building to rescue a victim who had been shot in the leg.
“Before moving him inside to safety, Palma fashioned a tourniquet from a bystander’s belt; and once inside, Abuan applied a tourniquet, and Palma checked the victim's tibial pulse to make sure that blood flow had been restricted.”
They then continued their bravery, according to the proclamation.
“Abuan stayed with the first victim and continued to monitor his vitals, Palma moved to assist a citizen who was taking care of a second, female victim; and Palma determined that the second victim had a gunshot wound to her abdomen with no exit wound. He applied a seal and prevented hypothermia.”
Mayor Skip Henderson said he was grateful the two soldiers were in place were their training and expertise took over. He called Auban and Palma "bonafide" heroes. Soldiers are heroes and those of us who live in the Chattahoochee Valley know it, Henderson said.
"On that night we saw it," Henderson said. "When others were moving away, they moved toward the danger."
The June 11 shooting in the 1000 block of Broadway was the middle piece of a three-act shooting incident that started in Phenix City earlier that night and ended with an arrest the next day.
Justin Tyran Roberts, 39, was arrested the next day and charged with the shootings, which included an incident on lower Broadway below the Oglethorpe Bridge.
WRBL News 3 will have more on this story later today.
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