Photo By Sgt. 1st Class Robert Jordan | North Carolina Army National Guard recruiters Sgt. Korrie Drakes, left, Sgt. Jonathan...... read more read more
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CHARLOTTE, N.C. – The slogan of the North Carolina National Guard is Always Ready, and on an early afternoon, Dec. 15, that slogan and four NCNG recruiters would be put to the ultimate test.
Sgt. 1st Class Rickey Dixon, an Iraq veteran, returned from a local school recruiting visit and in the next few minutes was leading Soldiers in a crisis.
Sgt. Korrie Drakes, a fellow combat veteran, accompanied Dixon and would be applying life-saving first aid to a stranger.
Sgt. Justice Boykin, began processing the paperwork from the same school trip and in a little while would help evacuate dozens of people from an active shooter.
Sgt. Jonathan Blaich, was watching over the storefront where he’s served for a few weeks, was ready to assist anyone walking in from the mall to learn more about opportunities in the Guard and would shortly help treat a critical wound on a bloody floor a few feet away.
In all, Soldiers with over 50 years of military training in infantry and field artillery, with multiple state and federal deployments between them, would draw on these years of training and experience that day.
These Soldiers continued their mission like any other day in recruiting, bringing the next generation of Minutemen into the Guard. They reviewed the most recent school visit and prepared for follow-up on leads.
Their office is a small storefront on the first floor of Northlake Mall, a two-story, 1 million square foot mall home to 140 businesses in the northern part of Charlotte, North Carolina. It’s near the stairs and in sight of a popular jewelry store on the second floor. A detail that will unexpectedly be lifesaving.
The office was unusually heavily manned with three Soldiers returning from a school trip and Blaich running the storefront for walk-in recruiting. Recruiters are normally out of the office and in the community meeting with parents and securing leads.
Upstairs a confrontation in front of a jewelry store overwhelmed the local security guard. Dixon and Drakes heard the conflict and decided to help.
“We ran upstairs, jumped in, and tried to separate those who were fighting,” said Dixon
As they arrived the conflict turned violent. From just a few feet away someone pulled out a pistol and started shooting, hitting two people.
“I heard the shots and immediately looked for my partner,” said Dixon.
Now the Soldiers lived up to the Minuteman title. They began to evaluate who needed help, how to find supplies to stop bleeding, and keep people breathing in the middle of an active shooter incident in a chaotic shopping mall.
“Our training kicked in,” said Blaich.
Dixon immediately began leading his Soldiers and beginning first aid on a chest wound of the first victim.
“We are not letting this guy die on us,” said Dixon.
Drakes ran to the jewelry store where an employee had been shot to apply a tourniquet, a constricting band that prevents the victim from bleeding to death by restricting blood flow to the wounded area.
Blaich ran to get the supplies, tape and his lunch bag from the recruiting office, needed to improvise an airtight chest seal to prevent air from entering the bullet hole and collapsing the victim’s lung.
“I was not sure what to expect when I ran up there,” Blaich.
Boyken on the first floor led many customers out the back of a nearby storefront to safety outside the mall.
Their actions as a team helped save two lives. The police quickly apprehended the suspects. Afterward, the team gave their statement to the local authorities.
They finally were able to return to the office and retrieve their phones. Only after they got to the phones did they learn that their leadership were calling them to warn them about the shooting from a news alert.
The next day they met with senior recruiting leaders and an NCNG behavioral health specialist at the NCNG’s Charlotte Readiness Center.
“So glad she (the specialist) was there, it was very helpful,” said Dixon.
The next Monday the team was back at work, and after a few ‘thank yous’ from mall employees they went back to mission, preparing citizens to serve their state and nation, and even at the store next door, at a moment’s notice.
| Date Taken: | 12.19.2022 |
| Date Posted: | 01.03.2023 12:42 |
| Story ID: | 435891 |
| Location: | CHARLOTTE, NORTH CAROLINA, US |
| Hometown: | CHARLOTTE, NORTH CAROLINA, US |
| Web Views: | 235 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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