By Hilary Kindschuh
Lincoln Journal Star
Copyright 2008 Lincoln Journal Star
RAYMOND, Neb. — Dallas Fletcher and his family were about to enter Val Tavern in Valparaiso for all-you-can-eat tacos Tuesday when his pager went off.
A 13-year-old had been shot.
“You kind of think, ‘All right, this is a mistake,’” said Fletcher, Valparaiso’s volunteer fire chief. “Hopefully it’s something superficial and not catastrophic like it was.”
But Nicholas Marshalek died Tuesday from the gunshot wound he received at his grandparents’ house at 1538 W. Little Salt Road, near Raymond Central School.
The Lancaster County Sheriff’s Office says the boy’s 16-year-old cousin shot him with a .270-caliber rifle. The incident is under investigation.
Fletcher remembered only two other shootings in the area in his 13 years as a volunteer firefighter in Valparaiso.
“It’s a freak deal,"he said. “I’m hoping it was accidental.”
Lancaster County Sheriff Terry Wagner would not comment on the circumstances of the shooting.
Volunteer personnel responded quickly. The ambulance and a firetruck left Valparaiso two minutes after the first dispatch, Fletcher said.
They arrived 10 minutes later, right behind Lancaster County deputies, he said.
Authorities called the Star Care V medical helicopter because the house was so far from a hospital, but the air ambulance was out of service, Fletcher said.
The Valparaiso team rushed Nicholas to the hospital, stopping briefly at Agnew Road and West 10th Street to let two Lincoln Fire and Rescue medics into the ambulance.
Advance life support medics often “intercept” rural ambulances, Lincoln Deputy Fire Chief Leo Benes said.
It’s easier for medics to get into a county ambulance with their equipment than it is to move a patient, Benes said.
Medics with advanced life support are able to start IVs and heart monitors and intubate patients, Fletcher said.
The 25- to 30-minute ambulance ride to BryanLGH Medical Center West in Lincoln was “intense,” Fletcher said.
Everyone kept their composure and did their jobs, just as they do with any rescue call, he said.
But it was difficult not to think about the fact they were treating a child, he said.
“When somebody’s 13, they haven’t lived their life yet,” Fletcher said.
Despite life-saving efforts, Nicholas died at the hospital.
Benes said the medics who treated Nicholas would receive a critical incident stress debriefing to help them cope with their emotions.
“They understand that sometimes you’re not going to save everybody - the outcome is not always what you want.”