 Officer Ryan Chrysler, left, gets the Hurst/Luzio Award, from Ted Kaczorowski and Sgt. Tony Luzio Sr., fathers of the men for whom the award is named. (Photo courtesy of The Columbus Dispatch |
By John Futty
Columbus Dispatch
COLUMBUS — The gunman didn’t say a word before shooting Columbus Police Officer Ryan Chrysler in the face at point-blank range.
The bullet struck the 34-year-old officer in the chin and sent a shock wave down his neck.
“I was concerned the bullet might be in my chest,” he recalled. “I didn’t know how long I’d be standing.”
Chrysler never left his feet. Spinning away from the force of the shot, he drew his service pistol and returned fire. He and his partner, Officer Shea McCracken, fatally shot Brandon Rayot, 22, during the incident at Weber Road and Melva Avenue.
Less than seven weeks later, Chrysler was honored yesterday with the first Bryan Hurst/Tony Luzio Award for dedication to duty.
“I hope I can live up to this honor, to the gifts I’ve been given and the miracles I’ve received,” Chrysler said during a ceremony yesterday.
A scar on Chrysler’s chin marks the spot where the bullet punctured bone. A smaller scar inches away on his right jaw marks the exit wound. He didn’t lose a single tooth and was out of the hospital in less than a day.
“I have a little bit of a sensation problem, but nothing worth mentioning,” he said.
It was Chrysler’s second brush with death in more than nine years in the Police Division. In December 2007, his cruiser was struck head-on by a sport-utility vehicle that jumped the concrete divider on I-71 near 17th Avenue.
McCracken rejects the word luck when used to describe his colleague’s escapes from death or critical injury.
“You make your own luck by doing things the right way,” McCracken said.
Chrysler’s habit of wearing his seat belt made the difference in the highway crash. McCracken thinks training played a role in Chrysler’s reaction to the gun in his face.
“We’re taught to get off line, don’t take a shot to the center of the face or the center of the body. That’s what he did,” McCracken said.
The two were in North Linden on Dec. 20 to investigate a report that a man had fired shots in a convenience-store parking lot. They noticed three people who fit the description of those seen leaving the scene and called them over to the cruiser. Without warning, one approached Chrysler and fired a handgun into his face.
“I spun around, turned a complete circle, then got back in the fight,” Chrysler said. “I don’t know why I didn’t fall. It wasn’t superhuman. … I had to finish the job. It’s a real testament to our training and our training staff.”
McCracken, a 40-year-old veteran of the Marines and the Army, called it the bravest act he’s ever witnessed.
“You’re taught to fight through. You’re taught to take a punch to the jaw or a kick to the groin and keep fighting. There’s no way to teach someone to take a bullet to the face. He got shot and stayed on his feet and immediately drew his weapon and stopped the threat. It was almost like he wasn’t hurt at all.”
The award will be presented monthly by the local Fraternal Order of Police and Central Ohio Crime Stoppers. Hurst was a Columbus officer who was shot to death by a bank robber in January 2006. Luzio is the missing son of a Columbus police sergeant.
Copyright 2009 Columbus Dispatch