Firearms officer commended for outstanding bravery after saving the life of an armed man

An Essex Police firearms officer who saved the life of a vulnerable man in possession of a handgun and a knife has been commended for his outstanding bravery by the Chief Constable.

Sergeant Rob Partridge and several armed response colleagues were deployed to the scene after unarmed local officers spotted the man shortly after he was reported missing in the early hours.

They arrived to find the man, who had taken an overdose, sitting on a wall holding what appeared to be a gun. Rob started talking to him and, after 40 minutes, the man put down his weapon but then produced a knife and cut himself.

He collapsed and Rob and his colleagues placed him into the back of a police car and, while a colleague drove on blue lights to hospital, Rob performed CPR on the man.

Deputy Chief Constable Andy Prophet, who presented Rob with his Commendation, said Rob and his colleagues had displayed exceptional bravery in a demanding and highly-volatile situation where loss of life was a very significant risk

He says:

“I am proud to say that, here in Essex, our firearms officers haven’t fired a shot operationally since 2015.
“However, they are always ready to deal with the highest threat, that of a risk to life, either to a person themselves or to others, despite the danger to the officers themselves.
“We all know about situations where police firearms officers must confront armed criminals who are intent on causing others harm.
“But what is not so well known are the times they are called upon to intervene with people who are in a desperate state and threatening to harm themselves.
“And because firearms officers like Rob are so highly trained in negotiation skills and paramedic medicine, they are able to diffuse such situations and deal with people who are in an extremely vulnerable position.
“Our firearms officers don’t just catch criminals, they are also here to help people and keep them safe which, sadly, sometimes means from themselves.”

Rob was commended for his outstanding bravery and professionalism during the incident on 16 February 2023.

He says:

“It was very dark when we arrived so we couldn’t see clearly where the man was pointing his gun.
“I and my colleagues were about 10-15 metres away from him and his gun and there was no physical cover for us to get behind.
“I was the one speaking with him because it’s appropriate for just one person to do the talking and I used all the skills I’d been taught in training.
“He was having quite a crisis but, after about 40 minutes, he put the gun down at his feet. However, as he did so, he cut himself with a knife and then dropped it.
“So we immediately rushed forward to prevent him from picking up the weapons again and to provide emergency first aid.
“Again, training kicked in and we were able to stem the flow of blood but then he became unconscious.
“We quickly placed him in the back of a police car and, while one of my colleagues blue-lighted us to hospital, I performed CPR on him on the back seat.
“Fortunately, he came round in hospital. He was later detained under section 2 of the Mental Health Act 1983 so he could get the treatment he clearly needed.”

Rob said that, afterwards, he was ‘relieved and thankful the situation was resolved peacefully’.

And he praised the training he received from Essex Police over the 17 years of his firearms career, saying:

“The firearms training in this force is first class.”

Rob has served 20 years with Essex Police and is now a skipper on Harwich Local Policing Team.

It’s his second Chief Constable’s Commendation for bravery. He was commended while still a probationary officer after arriving first at a murder scene and arresting one of the suspects.

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