SOUTH FULTON, Ga. — A South Fulton police officer is being praised for letting his training kick in to help calm down an overwhelmed child.
Captain Nicholas Williams detailed to Channel 2’s Linda Stouffer how he turned what could have been a crisis into calm inside a Walmart.
“I was alerted by some shoppers that there was a child screaming,” Williams said.
He said he had to quickly assess the mother and little girl.
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“I went up to her and, ‘Hey, how’s everything going? Anything I can do to help? Yeah, my daughter, she’s on the spectrum,’” he explained.
Williams realized that the child was having an autism reaction and was overwhelmed by all the lights, sounds and people in the busy Walmart.
“I immediately transitioned from suspicion to support,” he said.
He started showing the little girl cartoons on his phone.
“Instantly, she calmed down,” he said.
Interim Public Safety Director Cedric Alexander told Stouffer the South Fulton Police Department trains officers every year on how to slow down what could be a tense situation.
“Now we know how to better identify it. We know how to approach it and get the people the help,” Alexander said.
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“The public [was] looking at us, and I didn’t want the mother to think, ‘Oh, I’m in trouble,’” Williams said.
That training helped the family and the officer’s family, as well.
“My daughter is also on the spectrum. She has what’s considered Asperger’s, and [the training] helped me become a better father to her,” Williams said.
He says helping the family was no big deal; he just wanted to help.
“Just a moment between me, the little girl, her mom. I just so happened to wear a uniform and the bodycam was rolling,” Williams said.
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