Saw this on the news when I was there this weekend...It shows the wide spectrum of people in this world from the lowest of pieces of shit to the most brave and selfless.
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Robbery victim thanks family of slain good Samaritan, pays for funeral
by Courtney Zubowski / 11 News
Posted on November 16, 2010 at 12:31 AM
HOUSTON—A good Samaritan lost his life last week as he tried to protect a woman from an armed robber at a gas station, and on Monday, at a funeral home in southeast Houston, that woman met his family for the first time.
"It was a very powerful moment, a very loving moment, an opportunity that she embraced us and gave us her thanks and gave us an opportunity to meet her and her family," said the victim’s father, Stan Irick.
According to police, Sam Irick, 24, was shot and killed while trying to stop Anthony Ferrell from stealing Amberly Wait’s purse outside a Chevron gas station near Beechnut and 610 in Meyerland.
Police said Sam Irick and Wait were standing in line at the service window of the gas station around 12:30 a.m. Thursday when Ferrell approached Wait, put a gun to her stomach and demanded her purse.
That’s when investigators say the college student intervened, and Ferrell opened fire.
Sam Irick was shot once in the chest and died at Ben Taub Hospital.
The entire crime was caught on tape.
At Monday’s funeral, Amberly Wait was still too shaken to talk about the experience. But her husband, Jeb Wait, said Sam Irick is the reason their three young children still have a mother.
The Waits said they plan to constantly remind their children what Sam Irick did for their family.
"I think if you look in Webster’s Dictionary under hero, his picture has already been put in there. I really do," said Jeb Wait. "We want our children to learn who Sam was as they get older and really understand what he did."
The Waits paid for Sam Irick’s funeral. Jeb Wait said it’s the least he could do for the Irick family.
At the service, friends and family remembered Sam Irick as a giving person.
Both his mother and father said they weren’t surprised their son put himself at risk to help a stranger.
"He was there when he was supposed to be for the very reason he was supposed to be, and that’s why he is a hero," said Stan Irick.
Meanwhile, Ferrell was being held at the Harris County Jail without bond on capital murder charges.
Police arrested him Sunday after receiving a Crime Stoppers tip. They found him at a nightclub.
It wasn’t Ferrell’s first brush with the law.
In fact, he was supposed to be in jail when Irick was killed. Court records show Ferrell was arrested in February for violating his parole. But instead of sending him back to jail, the Board of Pardons and Paroles sent him to a halfway house in Houston.
Police said he escaped from the halfway house in October and had been on the run ever since.
"Sam would say, ‘Dad I’m OK up here. I’m fine. Let’s hope that this man, no matter what the circumstances, let’s just hope he finds the Lord,’" said Stan Irick said.
by Courtney Zubowski / 11 News
Posted on November 16, 2010 at 12:31 AM
HOUSTON—A good Samaritan lost his life last week as he tried to protect a woman from an armed robber at a gas station, and on Monday, at a funeral home in southeast Houston, that woman met his family for the first time.
"It was a very powerful moment, a very loving moment, an opportunity that she embraced us and gave us her thanks and gave us an opportunity to meet her and her family," said the victim’s father, Stan Irick.
According to police, Sam Irick, 24, was shot and killed while trying to stop Anthony Ferrell from stealing Amberly Wait’s purse outside a Chevron gas station near Beechnut and 610 in Meyerland.
Police said Sam Irick and Wait were standing in line at the service window of the gas station around 12:30 a.m. Thursday when Ferrell approached Wait, put a gun to her stomach and demanded her purse.
That’s when investigators say the college student intervened, and Ferrell opened fire.
Sam Irick was shot once in the chest and died at Ben Taub Hospital.
The entire crime was caught on tape.
At Monday’s funeral, Amberly Wait was still too shaken to talk about the experience. But her husband, Jeb Wait, said Sam Irick is the reason their three young children still have a mother.
The Waits said they plan to constantly remind their children what Sam Irick did for their family.
"I think if you look in Webster’s Dictionary under hero, his picture has already been put in there. I really do," said Jeb Wait. "We want our children to learn who Sam was as they get older and really understand what he did."
The Waits paid for Sam Irick’s funeral. Jeb Wait said it’s the least he could do for the Irick family.
At the service, friends and family remembered Sam Irick as a giving person.
Both his mother and father said they weren’t surprised their son put himself at risk to help a stranger.
"He was there when he was supposed to be for the very reason he was supposed to be, and that’s why he is a hero," said Stan Irick.
Meanwhile, Ferrell was being held at the Harris County Jail without bond on capital murder charges.
Police arrested him Sunday after receiving a Crime Stoppers tip. They found him at a nightclub.
It wasn’t Ferrell’s first brush with the law.
In fact, he was supposed to be in jail when Irick was killed. Court records show Ferrell was arrested in February for violating his parole. But instead of sending him back to jail, the Board of Pardons and Paroles sent him to a halfway house in Houston.
Police said he escaped from the halfway house in October and had been on the run ever since.
"Sam would say, ‘Dad I’m OK up here. I’m fine. Let’s hope that this man, no matter what the circumstances, let’s just hope he finds the Lord,’" said Stan Irick said.
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