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Corvallis police have released the name of the officer who held his fire Tuesday night when a woman wielding a realistic-looking toy gun reportedly told officers to shoot her.

Officer Derrick Samuels, who has been with the department since August 2014, held his ground as 21-year-old Sarah Maebell Rodgers reportedly held a modified toy revolver and told Samuels to shoot her, but he refrained from firing his weapon. The incident occurred just before 9 p.m. Tuesday outside the downtown Law Enforcement Center.

Using his patrol car as cover, police said, Samuels kept his pistol on Rodgers and ordered her to the ground. Samuels then called for backup.  When additional armed police officers came out of the building and approached Rodgers, she dropped the toy pistol and was taken into custody.

Samuels, who worked as a corrections officer in Orlando before joining the Corvallis Police Department, told the Gazette-Times in August 2014 that Corvallis was the only place he wanted to work. During that interview, Samuels also recalled a conversation he had with former Corvallis Police Capt. Dave Henslee about policing.

“He told me that this department doesn’t police what we want; we police to the community’s needs,” Samuels said in the interview. “That stuck with me. So far, they’ve really pushed us to be better and use our minds first.”

Samuels has the option of taking time off after the incident, a Corvallis Police Department spokesman said. He also has access to counseling, the services of a chaplain and the department’s peer support team.

Source: Gazette Times