A local hero
Strathmore teen disarms man, defuses domestic dispute
Strathmore resident Josue Topete, 17, possesses all the outward appearances of an average teenager: he is currently a senior at Strathmore High School where he plays on the varsity basketball team, and he even has a weekend job taking care of the horses at Cole Ranch in Terra Bella where his father works.
But what sets Topete apart is what’s inside: strong faith, stong family, and a willingness to help others whenever possible, even when danger may be present.
Such an unfavorable scenario took place last Sunday at approximately 10 p.m. in Topete’s Strathmore neighborhood.
“We were coming home from church and I saw my mom kind of jogging down the street, so I get out of the car and ask her what’s wrong,” said Topete. “She just tells me to go to her friend’s house down the block because she said she needed help.”
Topete ran over to the house in question to find the children out in the yard calling the police. When he went inside the residence and looked into the doorway of one of the bedrooms, he is stunned at what he sees.
“I see the husband hugging the wife and he had a gun at her waist,” said Topete.
After a 15-to-20 second pause where he describes being “frozen,” Topete then attempts to do what most kids his age wouldn’t dream of doing — disarming the husband and defusing the situation.
“At first I wasn’t thinking anything, then I started stepping closer and closer to him and asking him what’s wrong and why he’s doing this,” he said.
What Josue didn’t learn before entering the home was exactly how tense the situation was — two rounds were fired from the gun moments before he arrived as the husband and wife struggled.
Yet his reasoning with the armed man seemed to be working, so Topete acted when the moment was right.
“I could tell he just started feeling bad about the situation, and I guess I took that opportunity to grab the gun and push him off of his wife. He's then on the bed, the wife's okay, everyone's alright, then the cops come. It was just a crazy night.”
It wasn't until some time after authorities took control of the scene that the gravity of the situation hit Topete.
“I didn't really have any fear until about 15 minutes after he got arrested. That's when all of the scenarios started coming in: What if he shot me? What if he shot his wife?” said Topete.
Even with the delayed reaction to the danger, Topete still has no regrets about the action he took to keep his neighbors safe.
“It was a fight-or-flight situation, and I knew I just had to help,” he said.
When asked why he stepped in and helped in a situation when many
others would not, Topete gave credit to the lessons he's learned in church.
“I'm going to bring in the Bible. Ever hear of the Good Samaritan? That was basically what it was — just a citizen being a good citizen and trying to help,” said Topete. “That's all we need are good citizens. A few more people like that and this world would be fine.”
The reaction to Topete's heroism among those who witnessed it have been understandably positive: his family is “very proud,” and an officer from Porterville Police Department who responded to the scene Sunday night tried to recruit him to become a police officer.
“It was just joking around, but he asked me if I'd ever given any thought to joining the police,” he said.
Topete's career thoughts lean more toward becoming a game warden or park ranger, but it's clear he has the courage and the character to do anything he chooses.
“I thought the whole thing was just extraordinary,” said Steve Cole, Topete's boss at Cole Ranch who called the Recorder and told us about his heroic act. “To me he's a hero, and he's just a great kid.”
Topete hasn't been back to work at Cole Ranch since the incident, but is expecting a warmerthan-usual welcome.
“I know I'm going to get two days full of ‘Good job, man!” he said.