He ran toward the shooting: Off-duty cop reflects on stopping gunfire at Towne East
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Off-duty Great Bend police officer Paul Millard intervened in Towne East mall shooting.
- Millard responded to gunfire by stopping a 17-year-old suspect with a pistol.
- Wichita police credited Millard’s quick actions with saving lives.
Great Bend Police Officer Paul Millard spent much of Aug. 9 sitting on a dunk tank platform, grinning as kids lined up their pitches to dunk him.
It’s not uncommon for the school resource officer to participate in community events. But as the day went on, word quietly spread that a hero was sitting atop the dunk tank.
Less than 24 hours earlier, Millard had stopped a 17-year-old with a handgun after a shooting in the parking lot at Towne East Square — action that Wichita police credited with saving lives.
“That two day synopsis is a pretty good capture of Paul,” said Tim Singleton, First Southern Baptist pastor and a friend of the Millard family. “He will do whatever he can for people, and then he just loves our community, and he loves kids, and he loves trying to make people smile.”
Millard said he and his wife, Laura, weren’t supposed to be at Scheel’s the day of the shooting. The Great Bend couple were making one of their infrequent visits to Wichita on Aug. 8 to do some shopping when, as they were leaving, they overheard a fight between teenagers in the mall parking lot. Then, shots rang out, and Millard leapt into action.
“We just happened to walk out at the right time, the right place,” Millard said. “I just heard shots fired. (My) training kicked in, and I responded.”
Prepared to protect
Millard’s quick reaction, he said, was the result of years of training — training that began with an unexpected start in law enforcement. Becoming a cop “fell into his lap” after his uncle, a retired Great Bend detective, recruited him.
In his 27 years with the department, he has worked on the bike patrol unit, on the SWAT team and as a supervisor. Then, 10 years ago, a school resource officer position at Great Bend High School and Park Elementary became available. Millard, who once dreamed of becoming a school teacher, jumped at the opportunity.
“Now, I kind of get the best of both worlds,” he said.
Millard leads the elementary school’s Drug Abuse Resistance Education (D.A.R.E) program and helps students and teachers as needed.
Park Elementary Principal Kelsey Sciacca said she has had many moments where she has said “‘Paul, please come help me,’ and he never hesitates at all and always keeps a level head and does a great job with our kids and our staff.”
Millard brought the same calm, steady presence to the Towne East parking lot when a routine shopping trip took a sudden turn.
Towne East mall shooting
Nothing about Aug. 8 was particularly unusual when Millard and his wife, Laura, went shopping at the mall in Wichita. After visiting other stores, the couple popped into Scheel’s before heading out of the sporting goods store’s west-facing doors.
That’s when they overheard teenagers arguing. He noticed three men trying to break up the fight.
“Two of the kids walked off, so I was like, ‘Okay, it’s done and over with,’” Millard said.
“We turned around and walked back to our car, and that’s when I heard the shots fired — just four rapid shots.”
He told his wife to get in the car as he took off running toward the commotion.
He was carrying his police-issued pistol and identification, something he tends to do when he travels out of town.
“I’d like to say the world’s getting softer and kinder, but it’s not,” Millard said. “With the training I have, the experience I have … I’m going to do what I can, no matter where I’m at, to help keep people safe.”
Laura, who has accompanied Millard on police ride-alongs before, returned to the car and, along with about 30 other people, called 911.
She provided important information to the dispatchers — including that her plain-clothed husband was responding to the crisis.
As Millard ran toward the teens, he passed two of the men who were attempting to break up the fight and identified himself as an off-duty officer. Then, Millard drew his weapon and identified himself again to a 17-year-old with a rifle-caliber pistol, telling him to drop it.
“And, luckily, he complied,” Millard said. “And I didn’t have to use my firearm any other way than just to detain him.”
When WPD officers arrived and took command of the scene, Millard said he bowed his head in a silent prayer.
“I just thanked God that he kept me safe and kept my wife safe, and that when I gave the commands that the young man listened and I didn’t have to do anything more severe,” Millard said.
Wichita police arrested the 17-year-old on suspicion of two counts of attempted murder, two counts of aggravated assault and for criminal use of weapons. Two 16-year-olds at the scene were arrested for disorderly conduct.
The 17-year-old and 15-year-old shooting victims were in critical condition. One was shot in the leg and the other, police said, was shot in the torso. Both were hospitalized.
Millard said everything leading up to that day was orchestrated by God — from the unlikely path that led him to law enforcement to being at the right place at the right time.
“God had a plan. He intervened and put me where he needed me,” Millard said. “Years ago, he saw a need for me to be a police officer, and maybe this was the culmination of my career. But if that’s what it is, that’s what it is, and I’m going to keep doing what I do every day here in Great Bend, teaching the kids and having fun.”
A local hero’s celebration
Singleton and Sciacca heard on the news about the shooting and the unnamed Great Bend police officer who responded. They said they weren’t surprised when they found out it was Millard.
“It did not shock me at all that it was Paul,” Sciacca said. “For all of us, it’s a proud moment because it’s really cool for our kids because they all know him. We consider him the hero.”
Many found out about Millard’s involvement during Great Bend’s Party in the Park. While others marveled at his quick action, Millard spent the summer afternoon being dunked in a tank he had purchased for neighborhood events.
He said he isn’t one to seek the spotlight but is appreciative of the kind words and sentiments from people in his community. Singleton said that’s exactly what makes him worthy of such affirmation.
“He’s deserving of all the accolades and things like that, but he doesn’t want the accolades,” Singleton said. “He doesn’t want to be a celebrity, and he’s just kind of been forced into spotlight.”
In the weeks following the shooting, Millard said he’s received handshakes, high fives, knuckle bumps, pats on the back and a fair share of friendly jokes about his new hero status from friends, family, fellow police officers and students as they returned to school. But he’s most grateful that he was able to showcase the kind of police work Great Bend — and the National Association of School Resource Officers — prides itself on. In recognition of his heroism, the association honored Millard as their SRO of the month.
And, if he had to go back, Millard said he would do it again out of love for the community — regardless of whether it’s his own or not.
“It doesn’t matter if I’m at home in my community here, if I’m out and about in another community, but if see … a situation that I need to respond to, to take care of, I’m going to respond.”
