Two weeks after opening its doors for a law enforcement memorial service on May 20, the Church That Cares in Tarkington hosted a vigil Monday night to pray for the victims of the May 29 shooting in Cleveland that claimed the lives of two people and left two others critically wounded, including a Liberty County sheriff’s deputy.
During the vigil, Liberty County Sheriff Bobby Rader recalled the moment he first heard that Deputy Richard Whitten had been injured.
“I do not have lights in my truck and I do not have a radio in my truck. Most of the time, when I find out about things it’s when I get a call from dispatch or one of the shift supervisors to tell me,” the sheriff said. “On this day, God willing I suppose, I was talking to a deputy constable. As we were talking, dispatchers closed the primary channel, which means no one talks because something is going on.”
Rader said his first thoughts were that deputies were involved in a pursuit of a suspect.
“Then I heard, ‘Shots fired. Officer down.’ My heart fell. I just knew it was one of us,” he said.
The first information he received was that the shooting had taken place at Big Thicket Lake Estates near Rye, so Rader headed that direction only to be told moments later that the shooting had taken place at Big Thicket Animal Hospital in Tarkington.
“I was thinking the worst. My deputy was down. It hurt. When I drove up, I saw that he was on a stretcher and I talked to him. It was a relief that he could speak to me. The medics thought that the bullet had missed the artery. They loaded him up and Lifeflighted him. I was numb and just stood there as the helicopter took off,” he recalled.
Rader commended the sheriff’s office dispatchers for their professionalism as they soldiered through the stressful situation.
“We take a lot of calls for gunshots, suicides and other situations, but when it’s one of your own, I don’t know how they kept it together. When it’s one of your own, it hurts,” he said.
Investigators with the sheriff’s office and other law enforcement agencies began looking for the suspect, Pavol Vido, 65, who shot three people at B Dependable Plumbing in Cleveland before getting into an exchange of gunfire with Deputy Whitten and Cleveland ISD Police Capt. John Shannon at Big Thicket Animal Hospital in Tarkington.
Vido fled the scene after shooting Whitten and later died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound as law enforcement closed in.
“I saw the investigation was being controlled so I went to the hospital,” Rader said.
When he arrived, Rader said he found Deputy Whitten lying on a hospital bed in good spirits.
“He was carrying on a great conversation and I knew then that God was watching over him. We could do this. I knew that prayers were being offered up because I started getting text messages and voicemails from people to say that he was in their prayers,” Rader said. “He is struggling but he is a fighter.”
Rader and several others, including LCSO Chaplains Ken Smith and Kenny Smith of Church that Cares, Chaplain Ted Smith with St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church, and Rev. Jamie Blume with Hardin First United Pentecostal Church, offered prayers of comfort for the victims and their families, prayers of protection for law enforcement and all first responders, and prayers of peace and unity for all of Liberty County.
The widow of David “Davey” Grubbs Jr., 62, who succumbed to his injuries June 1 after initially surviving the shooting, attended the vigil to thank the community for their prayers. A celebration of his life will be held at 11 a.m., Wednesday, June 5, at First Baptist Church in Navasota.
The other fatal shooting victim, Toni Kelly, 61, of Hockley, Texas, was the first person killed in the shooting rampage. The fourth victim, Chris Grubbs, owner of B Dependable Plumbing, suffered bullet wounds to his head and neck but is expected to survive.
Rader believes that Whitten narrowly avoided being another fatality.
“Thank you, Lord, for letting [Cleveland ISD Police Capt.] John Shannon be there. I really believe that he (the shooter) would have gone over and finished Whitten had he not been there,” Rader said.
Rader acknowledged that Whitten has a difficult challenge ahead but says he is a fighter.
“I went to the hospital after the prayer meeting [in Cleveland] on Friday. Keep him in your prayers. This is going to be an uphill battle. He is still in serious condition but he is going to be good,” the sheriff said.
Prayers of protection and peace were given for Liberty County’s law enforcement agencies following the May 29 shooting incidents in Cleveland and Tarkington that left two dead and two seriously injured, including a sheriff’s deputy. 
Rev. Jamie Blume, pastor of Hardin First United Pentecostal Church, leads a prayer during a June 3 vigil at Church That Cares in Tarkington. 
Father Ted Smith, pastor of St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church and a chaplain for the Liberty County Sheriff’s Office, commended the brotherhood of law enforcement at a vigil on June 3 at Church That Cares in Tarkington. 
Praise singers for Church That Cares in Tarkington perform at a prayer vigil held Monday, June 3.