STATE NEWS: MHP Trooper Rescues Pike Woman from Submerged Car

MHP Trooper Robert Shows
Photo provided by MHP

A Mississippi Highway Patrol trooper saved a woman from drowning after finding her vehicle in the water after responding to a vehicle crash.

At about 9:30 p.m. Monday, Trooper Robert Taylor Shows arrived at a crash scene on I-55 in Pike County when he saw a vehicle halfway underwater with the driver still inside.

Shows knocked out the rear glass to begin a rescue attempt. He could see the woman slumped over in the front passenger floorboard and was under a substantial amount of water. Shows maneuvered through the broken window and was able to free the woman’s foot that was trapped under the floorboard.

The trooper then removed the woman from the vehicle placing her in a safe location to await emergency medical personnel. She was transported to the University of Mississippi Medical Center in Jackson due to injuries sustained in the crash and remains in stable condition.

“Thank God for men and women like Trooper Shows who selflessly serve a cause bigger than themselves. Underpaid and certainly underappreciated, they continue to do the job no matter what the obstacle or the risk,” said Mississippi Department of Public Safety Commissioner Marshall Fisher.

Director of the Mississippi Highway Patrol Col. Chris Gillard added, “Because of Trooper Shows selfless actions, a life was saved and a family was spared the grim news that their loved one wouldn’t be returning home that night. This is the very reason why we train hard, for the known and unknown. Each day, committed officers across this country carry out their duties by serving with a purpose. They do not do it for recognition or the money. An officer’s value to society is priceless.”

Shows is a graduate of MHP Cadet Class 62 and was sworn in on March 6, 2018.