A Small Random Act of Kindness: RIP Officer Jeremy Henwood

On Saturday, August 14, 2011, San Diego Police Officer Jeremy Henwood, a Marine combat veteran of both Iraq and Afghanistan, was at a McDonald’s restaurant when a boy came to him and asked him for some change. According to WTKR.com,”the officer encountered a young boy named Daveon Tinsley who asked him for ten cents. When Henwood asked him what the money was for, Daveon told him it was to buy cookies. The officer bought the sweet treat for him.

Daveon says that he was hesitant to approach the tall officer in uniform.

"He said 'what do you want to be when you grow up?' and I said 'a NBA star,'" commented Daveon. "He said you gotta work hard to be a NBA star, and I said, 'I know.'"
 
A random act of kindness followed only three minutes later by a random act of violence.”

Just a few minutes later Officer Henwood was at a traffic light at the intersection of 45th and University, when  Dejon Marquee White, a man on a shooting spree, "allegedly" pulled up beside Henwood and shot him in the head with a shotgun.  Henwood died the next day.

"I'm the last one to talk to him that day, I'm the one to get good advice from him. I'm gonna take that to my heart," says Daveon. "He did his work in life. He served for his country, so God made my dream come true to get advice from a person above my level like that to get advice like that. God makes this happen for a reason."

"My whole life I'll remember him," says Daveon, a 13-year-old boy who was one of the last people to speak to the officer.

It was a small random act of kindness that will not be forgotten.”

San Diego Police Chief Bill Lansdowne also praised an unnamed husband and wife who were out shopping and came to the assistance of the downed officer. The wife used Henwood's radio to call the police while her husband administered first aid. "Those were true heroes," Lansdowne said.

RIP Officer Jeremy Henwood (1974-2011)