A Vancouver, WA police officer is alive today thanks to the medical training and quick-thinking of ILWU Local 4 longshoreman James Bridger Jr. On June 30th Bridger was leaving his neighborhood when he saw Earlene Anderson holding a police officer in her arms as he slumped to the ground. Bridger knew something was wrong and immediately stopped to help.
Officer Dustin Goudschaal had been shot several times while making a traffic stop. Anderson was driving in the opposite direction when the shooting occurred. She ran over to help after the suspect driving a black truck sped off just before Bridger came on the scene. Goudschaal had been struck several times in his bullet proof vest and once in the neck which was bleeding profusely. He was unable to speak because of his wounds.
After helping apply pressure to the bandage, he reached across Goudschaal’s chest, grabbed his radio, and yelled: “Code 33!” He said that an officer was shot and that they needed help immediately.
Bridger had worked as reserve officer with the Battle Ground Police Department and as a volunteer with Fire District 3. “Even though it’s been a few years, my training just sort of kicked in,” said Bridger. Goudschaal thanked Bridger when he visited him in the hospital the next day. “He told me, ‘It’s because of you that I’m here,’” Bridger said.
A few months earlier, Bridger’s relationship with the Vancouver police was not as friendly. Bridger had been arrested for “malicious mischief” after he was struck by a van while walking the picket line outside of the United Grain terminal. The van driver was not arrested.
Both Bridger and Anderson were honored by the Vancouver City Council on July 7 for their role in helping to save the life of Officer Goudschaal. Vancouver police officers lined the walls of the council chambers during the meeting.
Goudschaal was still recovering from the shooting and was unable to attend. A friend read a statement from Goudschaal and his wife Kate: “I choose to believe, that for whatever reason, those two good Samaritans were meant to be there in that moment to help Dustin, and for this, we are eternally grateful.”
“I was just in the right place at the right time,” Bridger said. “This was just one union brother helping another union brother. That’s the way I see it.”