EMT Hailed for Saving Partner's Life in Attack

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As the search contnues for an “agitated” man who reportedly stabbed two Detroit emergency medical service workers in the face and hands early Tuesday morning, one of responders is being hailed as a hero for saving her partner from more serious injury.

Detroit Executive Fire Commissioner Eric Jones said the two EMT workers — Alfredo Rojas, 25, and Kelly Adams, 49, — were within “inches of dying” as they drove themselves to the Detroit Receiving Hospital after the attack, which occurred about 12:30 a.m. at 3430 Third St., near the Lodge Freeway and Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard.

Armed with the sharp object, the alleged assailant, who stabbed and slashed the EMS workers several times, according to reports in The Detroit News and Detroit Free Press.

In a news conference outside the hospital, Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan hailed Adams as a hero for intervening in a dangerous, life-threatening situation.

“From all of the accounts I’m hearing, Kelly Adams probably saved the life of Alfredo Rojas with her intervention,” Duggan said. “These folks are out saving our lives and ... all of a sudden someone is coming at you. It’s heart wrenching, it’s heartbreaking. These are good people and they didn’t deserve this. But all we can do now is have the community pull behind them.”

Both Adams and Rojas face extensive surgeries and a “very long recovery,” but were in stable condition and able to talk Tuesday, Jones said. They may be permanently scarred.

The two EMS workers were responding to a 911 call about a woman who had a minor ankle injury in the area of the Neighborhood Services Organization homeless shelter.

“A male subject was there (with the woman) and he became agitated, upset with the (medical) assessment,” Jones said. “The EMTs told him to step back, calm down.”

After the attack, the injured woman reportedly fled with the suspect. Police said they have a person of interest in the attack.

Jones described the workers as “very brave” and said they often work in dangerous conditions.

“They’re very hard-working, very motivated,” Jones said. “They love the city.”

Duggan said the attack has prompted discussions with Jones about how to improve safety for EMS workers, and Jones plans to meet with Detroit Police Chief James Craig to discuss training in de-escalation and possible defensive tactics that may help defuse similar situations in the future.

“Whether training would have prevented this incident or whether you had someone with a mental issue who just attacked, I can’t tell you,” Duggan said. “He and I have already been talking today about what measures can be taken. Chief Craig and the police department are all over attempting to find the individual who attacked them.”