Metro officer credited with saving baby hot in drive-by

Cathy Scott

Thursday, Feb. 26, 1998 | 10:12 a.m.

For the second time in his 12-year-career, Metro Police Sgt. Randy Sutton is being credited with saving a child's life. Wednesday night, he resuscitated a baby shot in the face during a drive-by shooting.

The infant was sitting in the back seat when a gunman fired into her parents' car, police said.

The baby, who a University Medical Center nursing supervisor said is "a couple of months old," was in critical but stable condition today, the nursing supervisor said. Her name has not been released. The baby's parents, who were sitting in the front seat, were not injured, police said.

The shooting occurred about 6:30 p.m. as the family was headed west in the 500 block of East Sahara Avenue at 6th Street. The father was about to make a turn when a car pulled up to his right and a gunman inside opened fire, Sgt. William Minor said.

The baby, who was sitting in the back seat in a child's safety seat, was hit in the cheek, Minor said. Also, police said, the baby was hit with shattered glass.

Sutton, who works out of Metro southeast substation, arrived at the scene and performed CPR on the baby until paramedics arrived, police said.

The baby was taken to UMC and underwent surgery overnight, a nursing supervisor said.

Witnesses told police they saw the gunman leaving the scene in a light-colored or gray-primer early model Oldsmobile. He remained at large today, Minor said.

It's the second time Sutton has been credited with saving a child's life while on duty.

On May 11, 1994, a 5-year-old boy was seriously injured when he was hit by a car while playing hide-and-seek with another child, according to a SUN news article.

The boy had been carried by a playmate to a nearby apartment. When Sutton arrived on the scene, the boy was unconscious and not breathing, police said. Sutton performed CPR. When paramedics arrived, the boy had a faint pulse.

SUN REPORTER Karen Zekan contributed to this story.