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Jul 09, 2023

EPD officer awarded medal of valor for rescuing man from grain elevator

Jacob McKinley (left) poses with his medal of valor and Enid Police Department

Jacob McKinley (left) poses with his medal of valor and Enid Police Department Chief Bryan Skaggs.

ENID, Okla.— Former Enid Police Department Officer Jacob McKinley's ability to put others first has not gone unnoticed.

At 2:21 p.m. on Oct. 10, 2022, EPD received a report of a suspicious man behaving erratically at the abandoned Goodpasture grain elevator near the North Van Buren overpass. At the grain elevator, the officers found a man who claimed to have a gun and threatened to jump from the top if officers approached any closer.

Police officers, reporters, firefighters and spectators swarmed the scene. Cars lined the roads surrounding the grain elevator as the man wandered from window to window.

Among the chaos, one person's actions stood out.

"I don't know what we’d have done if it wouldn't have been for Jacob going up and doing what he did," Police Chief Bryan Skaggs said.

McKinley, who now works for Bartlesville Police Department, received a medal of valor on Monday for his bravery. As multiple EPD officers, as well as Skaggs, gathered to watch McKinley accept the award, each of them noted they had never seen another officer receive a medal of valor.

Similar to McKinley's medal of valor, no officer had previous experience when it came to rescuing a man from an abandoned grain elevator. Somehow, McKinley knew just what to do when the dynamics of the mission shifted.

The three-hour standoff between the man and negotiators came to an end as the man climbed another 30 feet up the grain elevator and wrapped a large chain around his neck, hanged himself, slumped forward and passed out.

The situation transitioned from consoling a suicidal person to a rescue mission.

McKinley sprung into action.

McKinley and Sgt. Tanner Austin entered the elevator, and McKinley climbed 190 feet to reach the unconscious man. As both daylight and time to save the man dwindled, McKinley risked his personal safety to reach the injured man.

McKinley shed his gun belt, handcuffs and bullet-proof vest to fit through the small hatch that led to the man's location, aware that the man could regain consciousness at any moment.

"I’m glad it went the way it did because honestly, I kind of thought he was playing possum," McKinley said.

McKinley discovered the man unconscious but alive and breathing. He duct taped his legs together and placed him in handcuffs to prevent him from punching or kicking those who were desperately trying to save him. As a team of firefighters prepared to lower the man from the top of the grain elevator, McKinley and the man waited atop the grain elevator for approximately four hours.

"He woke up a couple of times and asked if he was still alive," McKinley said. "I said ‘Yes,’ and he said ‘Why?’"

It was 9 p.m. when firefighters lowered the man from the grain elevator in a basket gurney, and McKinley climbed another 190 feet down the pitch black grain elevator.

To McKinley, it was just another day in the office.

"I’d do it all over again," McKinley said. "(It's) part of the job."

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