Police officer helps out student spotted walking home from job at 2 a.m.
Last weekend, Officer John Shipman of the Jonesboro, Arkansas, police department spotted a young man walking along the shoulder of the road.
It was 2:15 in the morning.
It was below freezing.
Shipman approached the man and asked him his name and where he was coming from.
The man, Arkansas State University pre-pharmacy student James Taylor, replied that he was making his usual 4-mile commute home from his job at McDonald’s.
Because he can’t afford a car, Taylor walks to and from work and school, regardless of weather conditions.
"I asked him, ‘So you went to work tonight knowing that you didn’t have a ride home and that it was going to be freezing?’ and he said ‘Yes sir.’" Shipman told KAIT 8. “He says I have to, I don’t have any other choice.”
When Shipman got home, he shared Taylor’s story on social media. He then set up a GoFundMe account to help the student get a car.
The $1,400 goal was surpassed in just three days. To date, $6,500 has been donated, more than enough for Taylor to buy a used car — and cover months of insurance.
"These kind of people, you don’t meet every day," Taylor told KAIT 8. “Officer Shipman, he was an amazing guy.”
“I saw it as a way to make people’s lives better – that’s my goal as an officer – I want to make your life better not worse,” Shipman told Ellen’s Good News. “I have a different view on police work. When I train officers, the first thing I tell them is they’re going to learn is compassion and common sense.”
Now Taylor just needs to get his license. With no money for a car, Taylor said didn’t need one — until now.