The person I admire the most is Officer Louis F. Jogmen.In 1977, he was shot in the head during an armed robbery. He was the first officer to arrive at the scene. As he approached the store, the robber came out holding a woman hostage and pointed a gun at her head.
Officer Jogmen tried to talk to the robber and calm him down, hiding behind cover. At some point, he made the decision to give himself up to save the woman. The robber released the woman, handcuffed Officer Jogmen, took his gun, and started threatening him. He kept jabbing the officer in the head with the gun, asking if he had a family and saying that he would never see them again.
This was no longer just a robbery—it had turned into an attempted murder. But Officer Jogmen stayed calm, trying to distract the robber and buy time for backup to arrive. The robber shot him in the side of the head, then turned and fired at the other officers, who returned fire and struck him.
Even though Officer Jogmen should have died immediately from the gunshot, he survived for 8 more years, dealing with the effects of the brain injury.
We can discuss police tactics and strategies, but to me, Officer Louis F. Jogmen was the bravest person I’ve ever known.
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On the evening of July, 12 1977, Officer Jogmen was dispatched to call of "something going on" inside the 7-11 store at 159th Place and 76th Ave. Officer Jogmen was the first officer on the scene. He took up a position of cover to await backup units. Before the backup units arrived, a 20 year old male white subject exited the front of the store with a gun to the head of a pregnant woman he was holding in front of him. While still behind cover, Officer Jogmen ordered the subject to drop the gun and release the woman.
The subject refused, telling Officer Jogmen that unless he came out from behind cover he would kill the woman immediately. Officer Jogmen tried to buy time for the other units to arrive, but he now had the woman's life in his hands. He stepped out from behind cover, and the subject ordered him to drop his gun. Officer Jogmen placed his 357 revolver on the ground, and the subject released the woman.
Holding his gun on Officer Jogmen, the subject approached him, picked up the officer's revolver, then ordered the officer to his knees. The subject handcuffed the officer and began poking him in the head with his revolver. The subject taunted the officer while poking him in the side of the head. "Think you're gonna see your family again, pig? You're gonna die, pig."
Officer Jogmen remained composed and calm during this ordeal, trying to negotiate with the gunman. Responding units were beginning to arrive on the scene and took up positions of cover around the parking lot. The gunman ordered the officers to stay back, then he looked at Officer Jogmen kneeling in front of him, and shot him in the head. An officer on the perimeter then returned fire, striking the subject in the neck.
Paramedics arrived and began performing life saving measures on Officer Jogmen and on the gunman. Officer Jogmen was not expected to survive the trip to the hospital, but he did. He was not expected to survive the emergency brain surgery either, but he did. The surgeon handed one of the detectives and small cup of brain matter, and told him, "The bullet is in there somewhere."
Officer Jogmen was in a coma for months and underwent 9 surgeries. He eventually regained consciousness. He remembered nothing of the circumstances leading to his shooting. We took turns taking care of him and his family (wife and 3 small children)...painting the house, cutting the grass, our wives cooked them dinners and did their laundry. We gave him and his family rides to the hospital for months.
Officer Jogmen would eventually be able to leave the hospital, recover sufficiently so that he was able to drive a car, coach our softball team, and mentor some of us rookies. He would retire with honors from the PD, and take a part-time job with the park district. His sence of humor remained intact.
The gunman also survived, a quadrapalegic. Two years after the shooting he was convicted of numerous felonies, including attempted murder. He died in a state run hospital several years ago.
Officer Jogmen contracted cancer and died 6 years after his shooting. He is remembered as a good friend, and a very brave man. He did not hesitate to put his life on the line for a citizen.
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