Son runs down mother on ambulance stretcher, killing her www.privateofficer.com
Austin TX Oct 2 2011 After two paramedics found 72-year-old Virginia Samuelson in her car suffering from injuries she received when, police say, her son assaulted her, they put her on a stretcher and began loading her into an ambulance.
That’s when they and two officers heard the screeching of tires and saw a pickup flying toward them.
They tried to push the stretcher out of the way, but couldn’t do it in time, according to an arrest affidavit.
The affidavit said the truck was driven by Virginia Samuelson’s son, 45-year-old Shaun David Samuelson , who deliberately crashed into her stretcher and dragged her along a street Thursday night in South Austin, narrowly missing the paramedics and police but killing her.
Samuelson was charged with first-degree murder and remained in custody Friday at the Travis County Jail. His bail has been set at $500,000.
Warren Hassinger , a spokesman for Austin-Travis County Emergency Medical Services, said the paramedics and officers at the scene were horrified by the outcome.
“They made a valiant attempt to save her life by pulling her out of the way, but couldn’t,” Hassinger said.
The affidavit said that about 7 p.m. Thursday, officers arrived at the parking lot of an Exxon gas station at 1222 S. Lamar Blvd., near Lamar Square Drive. Virginia Samuelson had called 911 saying she had been badly beaten by her son, the affidavit said. The officers began investigating the scene as paramedics helped the woman onto a stretcher, it said.
They then heard the screeching tires and saw a truck coming toward them at a fast speed from around a corner, the affidavit said.
Hassinger said the car jumped the curb and made a “beeline” for Virginia Samuelson on the stretcher. He said one of the paramedics pushed his partner out of the way and screamed at the police officers to run. They tried to get the woman to safety but were unable to do so in time, he said.
The truck collided with the stretcher and dragged it underneath about 75 yards down Lamar Square Drive, the affidavit said. Virginia Samuelson was pronounced dead at the scene; no one else was injured.
Traffic was heavy on Lamar that evening, Hassinger said. The wreck was witnessed by many people driving and in restaurants nearby.
Officers took Shaun Samuelson into custody without incident, the affidavit said.
When interviewed by a homicide detective, Samuelson said he was going to jail for the rest of his life. When the detective asked him why that was, according to the affidavit, he said it was because he killed his mom.
A search of public records indicates Shaun Samuelson has several convictions for assault.
Hassinger said the incident was an extremely unusual one that shocked several veteran officers and paramedics at the scene.
He said that although it’s not unusual for assailants to return to the scene of the crime, what happened Thursday night was rare.
“As unfortunate as it is, it could have been much worse,” Hassinger said.
“If they hadn’t seen him coming, we could have had two dead cops and two dead medics, too,” he said.
Source:statesman.com
Such a shocking tragedy. However, consider that it happened in South Austin, relatively speaking, whether Shaun knew of the last guy who did that sort of thing or not at the time, assuming or not. I guess when the last time one like Shaun revved up his pickup to ram a much older relative, hush was the word, since it was a feared politician’s son, where the politician oftened turned rap sheets into resumes which put his whole family too close to a dangerous circle. But the last time that sort of thing happened, it was played down since the son’s father was in office at the time and wanted it and in spite of so many witnesses, it was left as an anonymous hit-and-run sort of situation then, when the bad guy triumphed. Did Shaun assume he would be bailed out again as usual or not?