Oconee Co. deputy awarded prestigious honor, overcomes life threatening injury
Family, local leaders, and law enforcement honored an Corporal Lucas Watts, who was shot in the line of duty.
Watts was shot in November 2023 when trying to make a traffic stop.
'The night of the shooting, we were not 100% sure how else things were going to turn out, and we knew it didn't look good,' Watts said. 'It shows you that God has a way of deciding things that man does not decide.'
Watts spent several months in the hospital, fighting for his life. On Wednesday, he stood in front of the crowd to receive a 'Top Cops' award, a prestigious honor from the National Association of Police Organizations.
'We've seen his little boy, Eli, running around today and that gives us hope,' said Congresswoman Sheri Biggs, Third Congressional District South Carolina. 'I know he was fighting hard to rehabilitate from his injuries to be here with his wife and his son. That speaks volumes about his love for his family.'
Biggs presented Watts with a letter from Governor Henry McMaster, recognizing Watts' bravery.
Biggs gave Watts a challenge coin.
'As a US congresswoman, I have my own challenge coins,' said Biggs. 'I try to save those for special occasions. Today is absolutely a special occasion as we celebrate his resiliency and ability to come through on this event.'
Watts was also given a flag that was flown over the United States Capital.
'I hope that will signify why he did the work that he did and put himself out there in the line of duty to protect us,' said Biggs.
'I think if you take a look at Lucas as he's progressed from that day, every day, it just seems to me he's getting better and better,' Watts said. 'We're grateful for that. He's not only a brother who wears a blue uniform, as you saw today, but he's also a friend to all of us, actually more like family.'
The Oconee County Sheriff's Office said Watts is still recovering. His family appreciates the love and support the community has shown for the past year and a half.
'The bottom line is that we just continue to support him, lift his family and his friends up in prayer and support,' said Watt.
Last year, Watts was awarded the 'Governor's Law Enforcement Officer of the Year' award.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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Chicago Tribune
a day ago
- Chicago Tribune
Chesterton, Porter and county officials try to move forward after rift from June shooting
There were glimmers of possibility Tuesday morning for Porter County and the towns of Chesterton and Porter to mend their rift following an officer-involved shooting on June 18. While facts continue to be disputed by the towns and county, Chesterton Town Council President Sharon Darnell, D-4th, and Vice President Erin Collins, D-2nd, engaged in cordial talk with Porter County Board of Commissioners President Jim Biggs, R-North, and Porter County E911 Director Debby Gunn following a news conference organized by Biggs in the commissioners chambers at the county administration building Tuesday morning. County officials did not take questions during the two-part presentation. Biggs and Gunn have called for Chesterton and Porter's dispatch to merge with county dispatch and Biggs has suggested increasing the county's local income tax to cover the expense, as first reported by the Post-Tribune June 22. Officials from both towns have said they are not interested in a merger. The shooting is under investigation by Indiana State Police; the injured officer is recovering at home and he and the second officer involved in the shooting remain on paid leave. The Post-Tribune is not naming the officers because of the open investigation. Gunn, whom the towns have called upon to step down for what they say has been fear mongering regarding the safety and efficacy of their police dispatch center which is independent of the county dispatch consortium, gave a timeline of events on June 18, followed by a refuting of various statements made by the Chesterton Town Council and various entities. Porter County Board of Commissioners President Jim Biggs, R-North, has gotten much criticism for reaching out to The Post-Tribune shortly after a Chesterton officer was shot and airlifted to an Illinois hospital and a suspect died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head after exchanging fire with police and being hit multiple times in front of the Hilton Garden Inn in the 500 block of Gateway Boulevard. 'At no time during or following this incident did I, or anyone from PCCC (Porter County Central Communications), contact the press,' Gunn said as she began her remarks. Collins shook her head throughout the 16 statements pulled primarily from Facebook and news articles that Gunn refuted individually, except one. That statement from a town of Chesterton Facebook post on June 26 reads, 'Officers from area departments have told CPD staff that PCCC never advised many of them that there was an active shooter/officer down over their respective radio channels for which the regional E911 center dispatches.' Gunn said that is true, that the Valparaiso Police Department was not advised of the incident. Regarding the town of Chesterton's intention to draft letters to the Porter County Council, the Board of Commissioners and the state's public access counselor requesting an investigation of potential disclosure of privileged information by Gunn per Indiana Code 5-24-3-6.5, Gunn said that code was repealed in 2019. After Gunn concluded her presentation, Biggs spoke briefly, saying calls for Gunn to step down are 'unwarranted' and 'baseless.' He said considering that 80% of the dispatched calls to the two towns involve first responders dispatched by PC E911, it is untrue that the events of that day are none of the county's business. 'When that incident occurred on the 18th, that broke me,' he said. 'I will apologize to the towns of Chesterton and Porter if I have not conveyed that accurately.' 'We will continue to agree to disagree on the facts that were presented today,' Darnell said after the event. From her perspective, Collins said staffing issues preclude the county from being able to take on police dispatching for the two towns. 'Why don't they have the staffing opportunity for that? I believe it's because of the director,' she said, adding that people are still leaving despite pay increases. 'It's been a constant, the issues within the county dispatch,' she said. 'The toxic environment that is going on in Porter County Dispatch.' After the event, Biggs and Gunn spent time speaking with Collins and Darnell. 'Sharon just told me that years ago, when the consolidation was considered, they had some equipment that allowed them to speak directly to Porter County,' Biggs said. He said he told her that they should see if the county could share the cost of reinstating that system if cost is an issue. He agreed with Collins that absorbing the eight full-time and 11 part-time dispatchers from the Porter/Chesterton Dispatch Center could be challenging if they agreed to consolidate, but not because of leadership. He thinks an additional four to six dispatchers would be needed to consolidate and isn't sure they would be able to absorb all 19. Even a lesser amount would have to be worked out in the county's budgeting process that begins in August for next year. Biggs was asked why he hadn't reached out to the town of Chesterton. 'I did,' he said. 'I talked to (Police Chief) Tim Richardson yesterday. I told him that we're ready to meet. We need to get past this. It is not good for either unit of government.' For his part, Richardson, who watched the news conference on live stream, said Gunn's numbers don't add up on the timeline she provided. 'She's complaining about 57 seconds, when it took the E911 Center one minute and 38 seconds to dispatch an ambulance.' He also said Gunn's Fact Check #15, in which she said a guest commentary to local media outlets from January was written by a PCCC administrative staff member other than herself, was untrue. He provided a copy of an email from Biggs dated Jan. 14 that says in part, 'Tim, I should tell you I reviewed the letter before it was sent out,' and 'This is precisely why I felt Debbie needed to respond.' The Porter Town Council, meanwhile, released a statement Tuesday morning expressing solidarity with the town of Chesterton and their shared dispatch center. The council cited the 'continued onslaught of public pressure and false accusations levied by our own county commissioner and the director of County E911.' The accusations concern the performance of the Chesterton/Porter dispatch center for the June 18 police involved shooting. 'Chesterton's call for the director's resignation is both reasonable and necessary. The Council stands behind our Police Chief's statement 100%,' said the statement signed by Council President Laura Madigan.
Chicago Tribune
5 days ago
- Chicago Tribune
Chesterton officials call for investigation, resignation of Porter County 911 director
Chesterton's Town Council and Chesterton Police Chief Tim Richardson are calling for the immediate resignation of Porter County E-911 Director Debbie Gunn, accusing her of false statements regarding the performance of the Chesterton/Porter joint dispatch center during the June 18 officer-involved shooting. In addition, the town of Chesterton says they will send letters to the Porter County Council, County Commissioners and the Indiana Public Access Counselor that will request an investigation into Gunn's 'potential disclosure of privileged information' connected with specific evidence in the officer-involved shooting case. Incoming Porter Police Chief Dan Dickey on Friday issued a statement supporting Chesterton's call for Gunn's resignation, noting that her 'decision to publicly share detailed information during an active investigation was not only factually inaccurate but also inappropriately timed.' Porter County Commissioners President Jim Biggs said calls for Gunn to step down are ridiculous. 'This woman is, in my opinion, the best director that we have had in decades,' he said. 'She has given her life to making that dispatch center better.' The controversy that pits the towns of Chesterton and Porter against Gunn and Biggs, R-North, whose district includes the towns, is over how long it took an ambulance to be dispatched to the scene of the shootout on Gateway Boulevard in front of the Hilton Garden Inn the morning of June 18. Gunn maintains that the very existence of the 911 center is the issue. 'It's about the inefficient communication from a disparate center,' she said by phone Friday afternoon. 'The true issue is the inefficiencies of a separate dispatch center.' Two Chesterton police officers were dispatched June 18 to check on a 'suspicious' man on the hotel grounds. The officers' interaction with Joseph P. Gerber quickly escalated into an exchange of gunfire on Gateway Boulevard. Gerber, 45, of Winamac, fatally shot himself after being hit several times and a Chesterton police officer was shot. The Chesterton police officer is at home recovering. Gunn contends it took nearly five minutes for the Chesterton Police dispatcher to request an ambulance. Biggs, a short time after the shooting, cited the delay as evidence that it was time for Chesterton and Porter to disband and join the county's E911 consortium and that a local income tax needs to be raised to help pay for it. In a lengthy post on the town's Facebook page issued Thursday night, the town of Chesterton presented a detailed rebuttal. It is the second statement by the Town Council, which on June 23 heavily criticized statements from Biggs and Gunn that first appeared in the Post-Tribune. Chesterton officials stated they were releasing the statement Thursday because they wanted to quell any 'false panic' that Gunn and Biggs may have caused about the performance of the joint dispatch center. They defended the response to the June 18 incident as being 'first class.' Chief Richardson said Friday: 'We don't see any delayed response anywhere.' After the reaction from the Town Council to the Post-Tribune's June 22 story criticizing response times, Gunn and Biggs have stuck to their original remarks. 'As such, they are seemingly attempting to create undue panic among the citizens of Duneland with their baseless claims,' the statement said. Biggs has received considerable backlash with accusations he politicized the shooting or, at the very least, showed a lack of decorum in using it to push for the towns of Chesterton and Porter to join the county's E911 consortium on the very day of the tragedy. Some responding to the town's release on Facebook have even called for Biggs to resign. He, too, is unapologetic, releasing his own lengthy post on Facebook and scheduling a news conference for 10 a.m. Tuesday in the commissioners chambers at the county administration building to go over the timeline from the day of the shooting with documentation from Gunn's office. 'I haven't been inaccurate. I haven't done any political posturing. It's an issue that has been brewing for years. I have received several complaints over the years,' he said of the current set-up in which PC E911 dispatches fire and EMS for Chesterton and Porter, but directs police calls back to the two towns, which run dispatch out of Porter. Police Chief Richardson said with Thursday's statement, the town 'wanted to take the emotion out of it and present our case with facts and evidence.' The Post-Tribune filed an Access to Public Records Act request with Chesterton for copies of the 911 calls related to the shooting, which was denied because 'they are investigatory records of a law enforcement agency.' The town presented the following timeline and evidence: At 8:03:50 a.m., the Chesterton Police officer reports from Gateway Boulevard: 'Shots fired, I'm hit.' The Chesterton Police dispatcher, who was balancing other calls, contacts Porter County Central Communications at 8:04:48 and the dispatcher is on the line for 46 seconds, which refutes Gunn's claims that five minutes passed before police requested an ambulance. Gunn said, 'They did call 58 seconds after' an officer announced on his radio that shots were fired and he was hit, but that call came in on the administrative line. 'And 911 calls always take precedence,' Gunn said, explaining the center was swamped with them while the incident was unfolding. 'Even there, even in that argument from them, that's 58 extra seconds.' The dispatcher learns that while she was on hold, according to the town's narrative, another Porter County Communications dispatcher had radioed the ambulance station for Northwest Health at East Porter Avenue and Indiana 49. A license plate reader camera records the departure from that station at 8:08:17. Chesterton Police Sgt. Jamie Copollo, who heard the 'shots fired' call, passed East Porter Avenue and Ind. 49 at 8:05:46. She arrived at Gateway Boulevard at 8:07:30, closely followed by Porter Police Sgt. Thomas Blythe and Officer Matthew Reynolds, who heard the same distress call. Copollo radioed at 8:08:13 to dispatch that fire and EMS could enter the scene because it was deemed safe. Porter Police officers Blythe and Reynolds were already administering first aid to the downed officer. The first ambulance arrived at 8:09:03, followed closely by the second ambulance. 'This evidence unequivocally disproves another baseless claim made by Director Gunn, namely that CPD dispatch caused valuable minutes lost in ambulance response time to the shooting scene. In fact, she attempted to claim five valuable minutes lost by the CPD dispatcher's not requesting an ambulance for those five (5) minutes, according to the Sunday (June 22) Post-Tribune article,' the statement said. Additionally, officers told Chesterton Police staff that the Porter County Communications Center never advised any of them that there was an active shooter or officer down. A Valparaiso Police officer, who was patrolling near Chesterton at the time, was never informed about what was happening. 'Valuable law enforcement response time was lost by PCCC's not broadcasting this information,' the statement said. At the end of the Facebook post, Chesterton again asks for Gunn's resignation. 'Presented with this overwhelming amount of factual evidence, and given that this is not Director Gunn's first attempt to create false public panic among our Duneland residents and Town Council members, as it pertains to the joint Chesterton/Porter dispatch center, Chief Richardson and the entire Chesterton Town Council are calling for Director Gunn's immediate resignation from her position.' The official town Facebook post also personally criticized Biggs for 'running to the press within an hour or so after the shooting' with his narrative. 'His conduct was disrespectful to every brave first responder who was actively working this critical incident into the early afternoon hours,' the statement said. Porter County Board of Commissioners Vice President Ed Morales, R-South, agrees with Biggs that it is absurd for either Biggs or Gunn to step down. 'For what?' he said by text Friday. 'For pointing out a flawed process? Commissioner Biggs represents the north district and has every right to express his concerns for the public safety of the residents and the first responders who have to risk their lives in these unfortunate situations.' Commissioner Barb Regnitz, R-Center, says she doesn't know enough about the details to know who's right and who's wrong. 'We don't know if somebody's being political or somebody's being passionate,' she said. 'Their facts are probably both valid.' What she does know is that the debate playing out on social media and in the newspapers is making her uncomfortable. 'I'm concerned irreparable damage can be caused,' she said. 'My preference in conflict resolution is to meet in person, and in some cases, you might need a mediator.' And, in the end, she doesn't think the county should force the issue. 'I don't want to get into their business and tell them what to do,' she said. Chesterton Town Councilwoman Jennifer Fisher, R-5th District, stated that this incident was a time for the community to come together. 'Anyone who would choose to kick them while they have an officer down based on false and misleading allegations has gravely underestimated the strength and integrity of our community,' Fisher said in a statement Friday. Chief Richardson said Friday that he has yet to hear from Biggs or Gunn since the June 18 incident. If there were concerns about response to the situation, Richardson said there should have been a meeting to debrief those involved and discuss what could be done better in the future. 'They chose not to go that route,' Richardson said, noting that Biggs and Gunn went to the media. Richardson said he's still open to meeting with Biggs and the E-911 dispatch personnel. 'Whenever they're ready, we're ready,' Richardson said.
American Military News
24-06-2025
- American Military News
1 killed, 9 wounded in major shooting in South Carolina
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