ST. LOUIS — The day-before-Thanksgiving tradition of filling Enterprise Center continued Wednesday with a sold-out Guns ‘N Hoses event. The annual competition between firefighters and police raises money for BackStoppers to assist the families of first responders.
This year, the police officers came out on top, defeating last year's winner, Team Red.
"It's awesome,” said former Arnold Police Officer Ryan O'Connor, who was front and center. He was shot in the head on the job back in 2017.
He's here to cheer on another survivor.
"Lucas is fighting,” he said referring to Lucas Roethlisberger, the St. Louis Police officer shot twice in two separate incidents.
He represented Team Blue.
“We fought really hard. There wasn’t one point where we stopped. We just kept fighting and fighting and fighting,” he said after his bout, bearing a bruise above his eye.
Although he lost his bout, he made a new friend in the process, his opponent, an officer with Florissant Police.
"It really is something and St. Louis does it right every year,” Officer Andrew Webber said.
It's about camaraderie, friendly competition, and fundraising. Before Wednesday's events, BackStoppers has raised some $11 million in nearly four decades.
"If we have a time where financially there’s an issue and we have a public safety officer die in the line of duty, the community will step up and they've done it every time,” said Col. Ron Battelle with BackStoppers.
"It reminds every year how lucky we are especially after coming close to losing Ryan,” his wife Barbara O’Connor said.
The event recognized two fallen officers - one of them being Sgt. Mason Griffith. He was shot and killed at a Hermann convenience store back in March, leaving behind a wife and young son. Organizers said that’s why this event continues to serve a need.
They are hoping to have raised $1 million from the event and donations. The final tally is expected to be announced in February.