West Liberty Police Officer Derek Holmes was on duty during a slow Sunday afternoon. He was right in the middle of lunch when he heard the call: A self-inflicted gunshot.
“During the drive out there, my brain really started racing,” he says. “I’m wondering, what am I going to find, what am I going to see… I was just trying to process the nature of the call.”
It was a little after 1 p.m. on Jan. 29, 2023, as he sped to the location just outside of West Liberty. Information was scarce and Officer Holmes knew next to nothing about the situation.
Upon arrival he went inside the house. There, laying on the floor of the kitchen, was 11-year-old Will Daufeldt. He had just suffered an accidental, but self-inflicted, gunshot wound.
Will was scared, but at that moment he felt safe.
“He was calm, and so that made me calm,” Will said about Officer Holmes’ arrival. “He asked for a rag and put pressure on me to stop the bleeding.”
“Not many people survive from a gunshot to the chest,” he adds.
The accident occurred as Will and his cousin were about to go squirrel hunting. In their haste to head out the door, Will’s shotgun discharged right into his stomach.
An emergency call was placed and all available first responders were on the way. However, Officer Holmes was first on the scene, and he knew time was short.
“Instinct really kicks in; there’s no explanation for it,” he says. “Your training, everything you’ve seen or have been shown or taught, it just all kicks into gear…there’s just no way to explain it.”
Holmes has been an officer for a little over 10 years. He became a police officer for Columbus Junction in 2013, then joined the force in West Branch two years later.
In 2022, he made the move to West Liberty. So, at the time of the accident he was relatively new to the community. But in that moment, years of proper training took over.
He asked for gauze and began packing it into the wound. He couldn’t find an exit wound, so he could tell the birdshot was still in the boy’s body.
“I said, ‘Will, I’m sorry, buddy, but this is going to be what hurts,’ and I started stuffing the gauze into his wound,” he says. “I continued to apply pressure; I was also radioing in information.”
Everything happened so quickly, and yet it seemed to last forever. Holmes kept pressure on the wound, keeping Will alive, while directing emergency units to the house.
An AirCare emergency helicopter arrived and took Will to the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics.
Then it was time to go back to work.
“You move on with your day, and that’s what’s hard about this job sometimes,” says Holmes. However, he will never forget that day.
“I remember sitting there talking to him, and he looked at his grandma with teary eyes and asked, ‘Am I going to die?’” recalls the officer. “That hit me hard, because what are you supposed to say?”
Will, now 12, is fine. He has a scare and a story to tell, but he’s doing great thanks to the immediate actions of Holmes.
“I just want to say thank you to him for saving my life and keeping my family calm,” says Will “When he first came in, he looked scared and calm, but he was brave at the same time.”
Will is able to remember what happened vividly. The West Liberty student says that initially the gun shot didn’t hurt, but he remembers going into shock.
He also remembers riding in the helicopter. “That was my first helicopter ride. It was cool,” he says with a bit of a chuckle.
On Tuesday, Dec. 5, 2023, during the West Liberty City Council Meeting, Holmes was surprised with a life-saving award in front of his peers and family.
“Officer Derek Holmes went above and beyond his expected duties and served the victim and his family during this emergency event,” said West Liberty Police Chief Don Strong.
Specifically, Holmes was honored for his quick response and ability to provide immediate medical aid to control bleeding which helped to sustain life.
“Officer Holmes continues his selfless act of service by developing a relationship with the victim and family by ensuring all have been healing physically and mentally from the traumatic event,” states the plaque he received.
Will personally gave Officer Holmes a medal. He had a brightness in his eyes and was filled with youthful vitality.
“The reaction I received from everybody; it meant the world,” says Holmes. “To have Will be there, be a part of the ceremony and give me my life saving pin, what more can I say? It was special.”
However, Holmes was a bit surprised by all the attention he’s received from the incident, from social media to news outlets. In fact, he even feels a bit guilty.
“There are so many officers that have moments like this that don’t receive the recognition that many of them deserve,” he says, “I love the recognition it’s bringing to our department, our city and the community as a whole, giving such a positive light.”
Holmes lives in Iowa City with his wife Stacy, a first-grade teacher for the Iowa City Community School District. They have two children, Grace, 3, and Oliver, 6 months.
He graduated from Waco High School in Wayland, Iowa. He attended Indian Hills Community College for computer forensics and received a Criminal Justice Degree from Buena Vista University.
During a time when it’s both controversial and difficult to be a police officer, Holmes and the West Liberty Police Department are glad to celebrate a success story.
Soon they’ll be hosting Shop with a Cop, during which officers from West Liberty and the surrounding area are invited to go Christmas shopping with children.
“That’s really what drew me in,” Holmes says about coming to West Liberty. “A department that’s willing to do something like that for the community; that shows a lot.”
“There are two sides to this,” he adds. “There’s the side that’s fighting crime and that’s what everybody sees, but there’s also the side of building a relationship with your community.”
One more interesting tidbit about Officer Holmes: Two months before the accident he helped lead a Stop the Bleed class for faculty at the West Liberty Elementary School.
“Yeah, it was still fresh in my mind,” he says with a smile.