Bossier Parish awards 2 for heroism

BENTON, La. (AP) - Bossier Parish Sheriff Julian Whittington presented awards of heroism Tuesday to two men who helped save lives this year.

Whittington recognized Bossier Deputy Darryl Ware, who rescued a man from the Reserve Apartments during a fire Jan. 25, at the apartment complex.

Ware was on patrol when he saw the fire about 6:30 a.m. The fire had spread to the upper apartments, blocking the stairwell which accessed those units. Unable to go up the stairs, Ware climbed from a first floor patio fence to the upstairs balcony and pounded on the wall of the apartment and sliding glass door trying to wake the resident, Troy Cummings.

Ware then helped Cummings get out of the apartment by guiding him over the balcony and down the outside wall to the ground.

“Deputy Ware displayed great courage by his actions, and we are grateful to him and his level of professionalism as a member of the team here at the Bossier Sheriff’s Office,” Whittington said in a statement.

“I appreciate the award. It’s humbling and I really didn’t expect it,” Ware said. “I didn’t do anything that anybody else would have done if they were there first.”

Whittington also celebrated Robert Berry, executive director of Cypress Black Bayou, who saved a man’s life and tried to save another’s during an electrical accident at the park on Feb. 6.

Brandon Beaver and Kevin Snell were conducting electrical repairs on transformers mounted on slabs on the ground in Cypress Park. The two men were working alongside each other when Beaver came in contact with a hot line. Beaver was immediately electrocuted, and because Snell was working right next to him, he was electrocuted as well.

Berry was standing near where the contractors worked, and he tried to knock the two men from the electrical current. All three men suffered injuries and were transported to local hospitals for treatment.

Beaver died from his injuries; Snell and Berry survived.

“We are saddened by the loss of Brandon and send our condolences to his family,” Whittington said. “However, we are pleased to have Kevin with us here today because of the selfless actions of Robert.”

“You make a split decision.you’re reacting,” Berry said. “You put everything aside when human life is in danger like that and do what you have to do to try and save them. The hardest thing you have to deal with is that you only brought one back, and not both.”