THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Monday, September 23, 1996 TAG: 9609230029
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B2 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY VANEE VINES, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH LENGTH: 75 lines
A shooting incident last month near the YMCA next to Mount Trashmore left a bullet in the neck of passer-by Jacque Pratscher. But its impact didn't end there.
The episode haunts her 12-year-old daughter, Amanda, who was in the family van with her mother and father, James, when the incident occurred shortly after midnight Aug. 12.
When James talks about what happened, his eyes get moist.
The pain is still close to the surface. But the family took time out Sunday to thank those who played a major role in helping them through the tragedy: the firefighters and volunteer rescue squad members at Fire Station 16 on South Plaza Trail.
After she was struck, 35-year-old Jacque Pratscher, a former rescue worker in North Carolina, urged her husband to drive to the nearest fire station for help.
At Station 16, in the Windsor Woods area, firefighters and rescue workers sprang to action - administering basic aid; consoling Amanda; gathering details about what happened; and later taking Jacque to Virginia Beach General Hospital.
All in a matter of minutes.
Shortly after 11 a.m. Sunday, Jacque, James and Amanda - as well as several of their relatives - arrived at the station with refreshments and gift mugs in boxes topped with tiny red firefighter hats on rolls of Life Savers candy.
With streams of thank-yous, Jacque Pratscher also offered hugs.
``It's rare that something like this happens, but it's nice,'' said Master Firefighter Dean DaSilva, who had nursed Pratscher's wound before the ambulance arrived. ``It reassures you that you're appreciated for what you do.''
Capt. David Wade, a city firefighter for 16 years and a volunteer for six more, said it was ``the first time something like this has happened for me since I've been here. It shows she cares.''
The firefighters and volunteers remain close to her heart, said Jacque Pratscher, who will return to her job at Hannaford Food and Drug Superstore early next month.
``I would hate to think of what would have happened'' without them, she said.
Said James, a retired Marine master sergeant: ``They saved her life. They jumped right on it. That was a professional team that came out here.''
Amanda was not hurt in the shooting.
The seventh-grader says memories still ``spook'' her, but she's happy God watched over her mom.
``I'm just glad she's OK,'' she said Sunday, tears rolling down her cheeks. ``And I'm glad everybody here helped us.''
The root of the violence was traced to a confrontation at a back-to-school pool party at the YMCA.
James Pratscher, who had picked his wife up from a late shift at work, was driving east on South Boulevard, on their way home, when the shooting began.
One car sped past the Pratschers' van in the left lane of the two-lane road, James Pratscher said.
Then a second car approached from behind. But an oncoming car prevented it from passing in the left lane. The driver instead veered halfway onto a bicycle path to the right of the van.
As the car passed, two shots hit the van. A third hit Jacque Pratscher in the face.
City police are still investigating the incident, a spokesman said.
``I'm a fighter. I'll go on,'' Jacque Pratscher said Sunday.
Her husband said he would like to know who fired the shots and why. But ``the big thing,'' he said, ``is that she's all right now.''
The bullet, still lodged in the back of her neck, will likely remain there because doctors fear removing it would cause further damage, she said. ILLUSTRATION: Photo by MIKE HEFFNER, The Virginian-Pilot
Shooting victim Jacque Pratscher, left, greets master firefighter
Tina Ryner as Pratscher and her family visited firefighters and
rescue squad members Sunday at Virginia Beach's Fire Station 16 to
thank them.
KEYWORDS: SHOOTING by CNB