Shot in the Head, Forgotten, Abandoned, and Fired: Sergeant Matthew Schoolfield’s Story.
/Shot in the Head, Forgotten, Abandoned, and Fired: Sergeant Matthew Schoolfield’s Story.
By Chris Scilingo
Law enforcement officers are tasked with tough jobs and placed in some of the most dangerous situations one could imagine. Always operating within the gray areas of the law, law enforcement officers have no choice but to place themselves in harm’s way to do their job. But when an officer does his or her job, carefully and bravely, and while being wounded by gunfire multiple times — even being struck in the head — one should expect honors, medals, and celebration for the hero officer. Instead, Sgt. Matthew Schoolfield of the Chickasha, OK Police Department, was fired, forgotten and abandoned.
Forgotten and fired is the exact result after what happened on Sept. 17, 2017, during a search warrant execution at the property of a kidnapping and assault suspect. Chickasha police officers arrived at 3507 S. 4th Street with a search warrant in hand and armed with a police tactical team in case things went south. When no one answered the door, the police made their entrance.
Unbeknownst to the officers, suspect Alex Warren Klinger waited inside armed with a semiautomatic .308 rifle, ready to murder any officer attempting to take him into custody. The aftermath of the warrant execution resulted in seven officers being injured. Sgt. Schoolfield took at least five rounds from Klinger’s .308, including one that penetrated his ballistic helmet. But warriors such as Schoolfield don’t go down so easily. He was able to get himself out of the kill-zone where other officers could render first aid to him. Klinger had the luxury of surviving the gun battle and was ultimately convicted for his crimes and sentenced to 10 consecutive life terms. After a long road to recovery, Sgt. Schoolfield returned to work in a limited capacity, still as a sworn law enforcement officer, but not for long.
This is the part of Sgt. Schoolfield’s story where the real injustice takes place. The Chickasha Police Department removed the position that he worked in, thus leaving him with no job. In February 2020, Schoolfield’s department officially fired him. No public outcry, no media blitz, not even a blue line of solidarity from his peers to support him — no blue wall of officers standing shoulder to shoulder to back up a hero police officer who was limited to light duty because of the wounds he sustained while serving the community. Could it have something to do with the right to work laws where the sergeant is from? Were other officers fearful of political retaliation from the city? Was Sgt. Schoolfield abandoned by his brothers and sisters because there was no police union to back them up, to stand up against an ungrateful city administration?
I feel only shame for those brother and sister officers who, for whatever reason, have accepted their excuses not to stand in solidarity and support Sgt. Schoolfield. As for the Chickasha officials and the police administration puppets that the city pulls the strings of, they neither have the gratitude nor respect for the sergeant’s years of honorable service to the city and its community. To add insult to injury, the city offered Sgt. Schoolfield an ultimatum; take a lower-paying civilian job or take no job at all. Somehow the city officials can stand behind that decision and feel that they are offering Schoolfield a good deal. He may have been fired due to whatever fiscal excuses that the city can cook up, but he should never be forgotten and abandoned by his employer, his community and especially his fellow officers.
All law enforcement officers and supporters must examine Sgt. Schoolfield’s situation and reflect on it. Think about how you would react if one of your brothers or sisters in blue was fired after being severely injured in a gun battle with a criminal. We know all too well that every shift that we put the shield on our chest and gun on our hip could be our last. It could be any of us that are walking through the door of a home or walking up to the window of a car, and suddenly everything could change in a moment. Bad things happen in this profession, sometimes it’s inevitable, but it’s the aftermath and response to those bad things that separate us from every other profession. We can accept to some degree that we may be harmed while doing our duty, but we should never accept that we will be forgotten and abandoned by our brothers and sisters.
Blue Magazine stands with Sgt. Schoolfield.
