On Friday, June 21, was no typical day off for District 7 Maintenance Aide Silas Compton.
That morning, Compton was walking into a pharmacy next door to Mad Butcher grocery store in Fordyce when he noticed something was off. He witnessed a man walking into the store with a shotgun and extra ammunition strapped to his body.
Compton followed the man and witnessed him open fire inside the grocery store. He yelled at the man to stop, and that’s when the gunman turned the gun on him.
“I could see the cash register people on the floor and whimpering, and so I yelled at him again, ‘STOP!’ I ducked down when he fired at me, and I guess that’s what saved my life,” Compton said.
Compton was hit with several shotgun pellets. He suffered wounds to his head and upper body, with one fragment lodged near his spine.
Compton managed to make it back outside and was able to warn others to stay out of the store. He collapsed at a business next door.
He dismisses the notion that he’s a hero.
“In my opinion, there is another guy who is the real hero in the deal. His name is Roy Sturgis, and I’ve known him for years. He tried to talk the guy down, but he was shot too,” Compton said.
Sturgis died from his injuries. He was one of four fatalities in the shooting.
Compton is currently recovering at a hospital in Little Rock.
The ARDOT Family is proud of Silas Compton, a hero on and off the road. Our hearts go out to all the victims of this shooting.
