
Police Shot by a Mass Murderer: She Survived and the City’s Response Shocked Her. The phrase line of duty often feels abstract, until a single moment changes everything. For former Richmond, Virginia police officer Cheryl Ann Nici-O’Connell, that moment came in October of 1984, when a routine off-duty assignment turned into a life-altering ambush by a fugitive mass murderer.
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Hi, I'm Andy Staples from Andy and Ariane three. And another five star quarterback just entered the transfer portal. That's what college football is now, a non stop adventure. And we cover it every day at Andy and Ariane 3. Whether it's the transfer portal, the college football playoff, the coaching carousel, you name it. And guess what, it doesn't stop even when the season ends. So join us every day, Monday through Friday. New episodes drop at 3pm wherever you get your podcasts.
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As a police officer, she was shot in the face by a now convicted mass killer. She survived and got a shocking response from the city. Welcome to the Law Enforcement Talk Radio Show. In the Law Enforcement Talk Radio show, we are joined by special guests talking about their experiences, their realities of investigating crimes, plus those who have experienced horrendous trauma. Police, first responders, military and victims of crime share their stories. Hi, I'm John J. Wiley. In addition to being a broadcaster, I'm also a retired police sergeant. Be sure to check out our website letradio.com and also like us on Facebook, Search for the Law Enforcement Talk Radio Show. One of the questions I get all the time is how can I show my support for law enforcement? We're all busy. We've got busy lives. But there's something oh so simple you can do with our Facebook page. Search for Law Enforcement Talk Radio Show Facebook page and when you see a post you agree with that resonates with you, share it. Especially episodes of the podcast. To do all that, just search for us on Facebook, look for Law Enforcement Talk Radio show and be sure to click like calling us from the Richmond, Virginia area. By the way, an area is near and dear to my heart. I went to high school in the Richmond, Virginia area. We have a walking, talking miracle on the phone. Her name is Cheryl Nietzsche o', Connell, former Richmond, Virginia Police Officer. Cheryl, thanks so much being guest on the show. Very much appreciate it.
D
Thanks for having me Jay.
C
Now earlier on in email you advised me I should refer to you as Nietzsche.
D
That's what everybody calls all right.
C
We'll go with Nietzsche then. You are a miracle. You're one of these people that suffered an absolutely horrific injury in a violent assault as a police officer that a lot of people don't recover from.
D
That's true.
C
I mean, there's no other way of putting it. I worked with a guy in the Baltimore Police Department that he worked in different district. I didn't know him personally. His name is Gene Cassidy and Gene got shot in the head, I believe he's a.38 revolver. And we didn't think he's going to make it. He did. He survived. He had a host of severe injuries, blindness, a few other things. But it never slowed him down, never stopped him from contributing, having a full life. You pretty much had the same thing happen to you. There's no pretty way of saying it.
D
My doctors called me miracle girl. I was shot from 3 to 5ft away with a.357 Magnum weapon with a.38 caliber load. The bullet was aimed for my temple. Should have taken me out. I was looking down at something, reading something with my back against the wall. I was blindsided in an ambush attack by a man that was wanted for killing his wife, sister in law, best friend. An ambush attack in a Hanover county deputy over what was a three day killing spree. He had more people reportedly on his list. And I was just in the wrong place at the wrong time, wearing the wrong clothing. And I represented everything and everyone that he blamed for his marriage having failed. So he shoots me, I go down. I don't lose consciousness, I temporarily lose my vision. Looks like somebody's pouring a gallon of paint over this blurry picture of East Broad street where I'm working off duty in uniform at the Richmond Marriott, which had ironically not opened very much before this attack took place. I had a picture of him on a wanted poster in my back pocket. Never saw it coming. Not provoked, not trying to arrest him, just. Just a real odd situation. Some bystander came out of nowhere. He was cpr, first aid trained, I'm assuming because he knew everything to do. He put me into a recovery position, picked up my police radio, called for help, started doing direct pressure because the bullet had entered my left temporal area, because I moved my head, it missed my temple and it went in, knocked my TMJ joint out by my left ear, went down through my mouth and lodged an eighth of an inch from my carotid artery on the right side of my neck.
C
You never saw this coming, did you?
D
I heard a big boom. I was right near where the Generator was housed. My initial reaction was, oh, my goodness, I wonder if the generator blew up. You know, I didn't realize I'd been shot. I hear people screaming, whining. I hear this man on my radio saying, you got an oxidant? I need some help. I'm at the Marriott, and I'm like, wow, I wonder who got you. You know, it's not clicking. Obviously, I went into shock. Next thing I knew, I got my vision back, and I was in the back of the ambulance. My sergeant is in the back of the ambulance with me. He looks like he's seen a ghost. I'm, like, still talking. I'm like, what happened? He's like, you got shot in the head? And I'm like, no kidding. You know, it's still not clicking. So off we go to the hospital. There's all these offices lined up, and they wouldn't let anybody in to see me. Not even, like, my best patrol buddies, my best friends or anything. They let the detective in. Next thing I know, they're rushing me out to surgery. Everybody's giving me the thumbs up, and, you know, you got this girl and still kind of in shock. So we go to surgery, and next thing I know, I'm on life support in icu. Really strange things that happen when you're fighting for your life and you're really not sure what happened.
C
The amazing thing about this, but I'm actually blown away that you recall these things. That I'll be. Honestly, at my ripe old age, I forget a lot of things, but I know certain really violent things I've been involved in. I didn't. I don't forget the details, but somehow I want to put them away somewhere so I don't have to deal with those memories. And nothing was as radical and dramatic as what you went through.
D
I would love to put them away. However, every one to three is I have to rip those wounds wide open and relive the events of that night as I go to the parole board to beg and plead my case on why this serial killer, this cop hater, this psychopath, should remain in jail for another one to three years. I will have no closure until he, hopefully behind bars, dies of natural causes.
C
How old are you when this happened to you?
D
I was 24. I had been on the police department two and a half years. Moved down here from Boston to pursue my career in law enforcement. And I am the Richmond Police Department, only female officer ever shot in the line of duty. It's rather ironic because women were relatively new in law enforcement back in that time. And a lot of people were very shocked when not only I survived. Six months later, I returned to work, got back in my police car and hit the street running again.
C
Cheryl, you're an amazing person. Amazing story of recovery. We're going to talk more about what happened to Cheryl. We're going to talk about what she had to go through to get to where she's at today. There's so much to this story you don't want to miss. Promise you you don't want to go anywhere. We'll be right back.
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Hi, I'm Andy Staples from Andy and Ariane 3. And another five star quarterback just entered the transfer portal. That's what college football is now, a non stop adventure. And we cover it every day at Andy and Ariane 3, whether it's the transfer portal, the college football playoff, the coaching carousel, you name it. And guess what? It doesn't stop even when the season ends. So join us every day, Monday through Friday. New episodes drop at 3pm wherever you get your podcasts.
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Back to our conversation with Cheryl Nietzsche O', Connell, former Richmond, Virginia police officer. In 1984, I believe it was. Correct me if I'm wrong, Cheryl, you were shot in the head. You had severe life, you said, fighting for your life. You survived, obviously, because you're here talking to us about it. But there's a lot of lifelong injuries, physical and otherwise, that go with this deal. And by the way, if you hear any kind of audio disruption, we've had to use special equipment for Cheryl because one of the long injuries is hearing loss from being shot so close to your ear, correct?
D
Yes. I have a hearing loss in my left ear where the bullet entered. It's not the type of hearing loss that can be corrected with a hearing aid. Basically, I have an ear on the outside, but not a whole lot on the inside of the ear.
C
I'll go back to 1984, before we went to break. You said this is a time when, at least in Richmond, women were not. They're just growing in numbers. In a police department in Baltimore in 1980, when I started, probably about a quarter of my academy class was female. And we were growing. We had every walk of life you could imagine. And women were a big part of the department, much larger. Now, Richmond, for those who don't know, is the stereotypical South. I went to high school there. I love Richmond. It's a beautiful city. I know the area you're talking about where you were shot. Those sort of things aren't supposed to happen. And I'm sure when you were shot back in 1984, people were alarmed that a police officer shot. But when they found out there was a female police officer, they're probably up in arms.
D
I will tell you one thing. One of the main reasons, besides the good Lord above that I'm still here, was the astronomical amount of community support inquiry. I still have all of the cards that were sent to me. Everything. It was just beyond belief. Quick, funny story, okay? I'm an icu. They have police guards on my door outside of surgery because this guy is still on the run. They don't have him in custody yet. And they're afraid that he's going to show up at the hospital and try to finish what he started. He had actually approached me with a friend about maybe a half an hour or so before the incident took place. He didn't say a word. He was in a jogging suit, like a royal blue with white stripe with a red stripe in the middle down the leg. He looked like he hadn't showered or shaved. He didn't look well kept at all. And he was with another man who was expensively dressed, designer jeans, expensive shoes, wearing a corduroy jacket, a floppy hat. And the other man did all the talking. He was like, what time do you get off work? I was 24, relatively attractive. And I'm thinking, the man's trying to hit on me. And I'm like, you know, reverting back to my training. Like, whenever they tell me I can Go home, you know, you know. What are you doing after work? Oh, probably going to meet up with my boyfriend. Look, we'd love to talk, but y' all go inside, enjoy the evening. I've got to get back to work. And that was that. They walked away. The next time I saw Kenneth Wayne Woodfin, the man in the jogging suit, was when he walked up to me at approximately 11:20pm on Friday evening, October 26, 1984. He hands me a note. He says, here, my friend asked me to give this to you. He wants you to read it. And I remember saying to him, oh, would your friend get shy all of a sudden? And I put the note in my pocket and I watched him walk away and I just kind of shook my head. So after he was gone from view, about five minutes later, I opened that note up expecting it to say something like, hey, you know, my name is John Doe, here's my number, give me a call, let's hook up. But it didn't. It said, a marriage is social and holy. And I just read the first line and I showed it to the young lady beside me who was collecting funds for valet parking and looking around for the man who was later identified is Kenneth Wayne Woodman. And I'm like, does that make sense to you? She's like, I can't even read it. I put my head down and I read the first line again. And he had scaled back along the side of the building and through a little brick inlet. And that's why I didn't see him. And I had brought my head back up after reading that first line again. A marriage is social and holy. And that's why the bullet, it didn't go in my temple. That's why it went in right by my TMJ joint, knocked that out and went through my mouth and down through my neck.
C
I can't begin to imagine what you went through that night or afterwards. And by the way, I don't know of anybody that did time in policing that didn't encounter people that were off, you know, and that's what this guy sounded like. But there's nothing about what you described that made the alarm bells go. Something's really wrong. That note, man, I'm telling you, when you told us what that note said was written on it, it made the hairs on back of my neck stand up.
D
It was also signed by Nat Turner. And I didn't find out too later the remainder of that note was actually a threat on Wood Fins wife that he killed her brother in law.
C
This guy already killed when he for he encountered you, he'd already killed people.
D
Yes, he had started on Wednesday the 24th. He had murdered his wife in Petersburg, shot her like eight times and dumped her body after abducting her in the cemetery. Gene Whitaker, Woodfin she had somewhat a secret marriage. She was married to him. Things were not as they were supposed to be. Actually. I saw pictures of him later on prior to when I encountered him. He was a relatively attractive man, very charismatic personality. You're textbook psychopath.
C
Yeah, I think of like Ted Bundy when I hear explanations like that. They go, well, he didn't look like a killer. He didn't look like a serial killer monster. And my response is what do you expect them to look like? They work hard to make sure they fit in, that they don't stick out. And we'll talk more about that in a moment. We are talking with Cheryl Nietzsche o', Connell, former Richmond, Virginia police officer who is shot in the head and survived. This is law enforcement. Don't go anywhere. We'll be right back. Of all the radio stations in the United States, there are no other shows like the law enforcement talk radio show on Facebook. There's only one official page. Do a search on Facebook for the law enforcement talk radio show and be sure to like the law enforcement talk radio show Facebook page.
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Hi, I'm Andy Staples from Andy and Ariane three. And another five star quarterback just entered the transfer portal. That's what college football is now, a nonstop adventure. And we cover it every day at Andy and Ariane 3. Whether it's the transfer portal, the college football playoff, the coaching carousel, you name it. And guess what, it doesn't stop even when the season ends. So join us every day, Monday through Friday. New episodes drop at 3pm wherever you get your podcasts.
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We're joining conversation with Cheryl Nietzsche o'. Connell. She prefers to be called Nietzsche and she is a former Richmond, Virginia police officer back in 1984. October 1984. You're working secondary approved employment of is what we just called it in uniform, correct?
D
Right. Off duty, city assigned.
C
And this man who, and I use that term man loosely, there's no other way to describe them. I could use a lot of different terms that would fit but wouldn't be appropriate for the fcc. He'd already murdered his wife. He was already a killer. He approached you, he handed you a note and he came back a little bit later on when he started reading the note, and then he opened fire.
D
Let me give you just a little bit of a trail of how things went down. He murdered his wife Wednesday in Petersburg, abducts her at his mother's house where they're having a release from jail party for his half brother who's just been released from jail for committing armed robbery. Now his wife had married him, she was a school teacher in Caroline county and they lived in Ashland and he's pretty much self employed. What she doesn't know until she marries him is that he's dealing in drugs, he's got weapons, he's running porn. Reportedly, next thing she knows, their. Their home is getting hit with the search warrant. She had already separated from him and was living with her sister and brother in law that were trying to help her escape from the situation. So they both get arrested, she agrees to cooperate with the police, tells them, look, I don't have anything to do with that. I'm afraid. I'm in fear for my life. She gets out of jail, they hold him, he gets out on bond eventually and he has her car. So with her sister, she travels down to the mother's home to retrieve her car, thinking that will be a safe area. He's not going to do anything there. Well, she was wrong unfortunately. He abducts her, drives her in her car to the Petersburg cemetery, pumps her full of lead, goes back to his mother's house, gets his sister in law, makes her ride in. His wife's blood on the car seat, drives her back up to Richmond to where she lives with his best friend who ironically was the son of a Goochland county deputy sheriff.
C
Wow.
D
He kills both of them, then he heads back to Ashland. Around 2 in the morning, approximately, he pulls up at a red light next to a Hanover county deputy who's a K9 unit. He goes to shoot him in the head, but the dog senses danger and starts acting up in the back seat. So deputy sheriff turns around to see what's going on with the dog. So it misses his head and hits him in the shoulder and the arm. He gets on the radio calling for help. Everybody comes out everywhere. A pursuit ensues, and Woodfin bails out of the car and into the woods along one of the highways. So they get the car with the blood and everything else, but they don't get Woodman. He's still on the run. So he takes a little bit of a reprieve. And then he shows up Friday night down at the Marriott, and that's where I encounter him.
C
So when you encountered him, he'd. He'd already shot four people. He killed three and shot one uniformed.
D
Officer, killed his wife, sister in law, best friend, ambush attack, Hanover county deputy sheriff. And then he comes down to the mayor. Now, the irony is his brother in law, Henry Boshen, Sergeant Henry Boshen was also supposed to have been working off duty at the Marriott that night. He was down there looking to kill him is what law enforcement in the investigation determined. But Boshen wasn't there. In that note he gave me, it was a direct threat against Boshen and his wife, against their life. So they immediately. RPD immediately got word to Sergeant Bosh and got him and his wife away from their house because they were worried that he was going to go to their house.
C
Absolutely. And I'm sitting there thinking Nietzsche, that, you know, after he shot you and I didn't know. And here's the really amazing part, for people who don't know, even though I was policing in Baltimore, which is only a couple, three hours north of Richmond, we were alerted quite often when officers in other areas were shot, especially if someone's wanted. I don't recall this at all. I'm not saying it didn't happen. I'm not saying we didn't know about it. I'm just saying I don't recall it because it's so long ago. But when you start talking about these details, everything about this horrific attack and assault on you is magnified by the amount of violence this guy's perpetrated on so many other people.
D
And he wasn't done. He was not done. He eventually turned himself in to a Petersburg lieutenant who was a longtime family friend the following day. The irony in that is this lieutenant didn't tell anybody on the police department that he was going to meet this wanted murderer, multiple murderer, and somebody who had tried to take out two law enforcement officers. He just went to this place, met him, Woodson turned himself in, and he brought him back for processing.
C
He has no idea how lucky he is, or maybe he does, because I can't fathom that at all. Either this borders on a novel, a dime store novel when you talk about things like that occurring. Look, when I was policing and I'm sure you had the same thought, we were well aware of the dangers, we're well aware of the threats of all the things that could occur to you. But we didn't go around thinking that could happen today. And when bad stuff did happen, it was afterwards that I'd react to it and feel the effects of it because it usually happens so quick. But I don't know if it's a protection thing. Nietzsche, where I just didn't sit around thinking, hey, today could be the day we where bad things could happen. And I would never expect working at a hotel off duty, secondary employment approved by the city that something that was even remotely possible. You think it only occurs. You get a bank robbery call, you got a stolen car or domestic, you don't think it's going to come searching you out.
D
Absolutely. The events that night that were happening was the University of Richmond homecoming and the Episcopalian Ministers Convention. It was a fun job. It wasn't even like working a bar where you might expect a bar room fight. And you got to remember too, we're talking back in 1984 when officers weren't getting shot or people weren't trying to kill the police as often, unfortunately, as it occurs today.
C
We're going to take a short break. We're talking with Cheryl Nietzsche o', Connell, former Richmond, Virginia police officer who was shot in the head, survived. Don't go anywhere. We'll be right back. If you want to be a guest on the law enforcement talk radio show, simply contact us. It couldn't be easier. You can send us a message on Facebook, look for and like the law enforcement talk radio show page or email jetradio.com that's J A Y etradio.com hi.
A
I'm Andy Staples from Andy and Ariane 3. And another five star quarterback just entered the transfer portal. That's what college football is now, a non stop adventure. And we cover it every day at Andy and Ariane 3. Whether it's the transfer portal, the college football playoff, the coaching carousel, you name it. And guess what, it doesn't stop even when the season ends. So join us every day, Monday through Friday. New episodes drop at 3pm Wherever you get your podcasts, if you're the purchasing.
B
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C
This is the Law Enforcement Show. I'm John J. Wiley, retired Baltimore police sergeant, and I'm joined by a former Richmond, Virginia police officer, Cheryl Nietzsche O'. Connell. Back in October 1984, she was shot in the head and face with a.357 Magnum revolver. Survived and lifelong catastrophic injuries as a result. I'm just kind of blown away, to be honest with you, Nietzsche, when you're talking about this. And I really do not like giving any kind of publicity to someone who's a stone cold killer or terrorist or anybody like that. I just don't believe in doing it. And I think that. And sadly, all too often when our law enforcement people are shot, especially in the head and face area, they don't survive and we don't get to hear their stories. So when people like you do survive and recover for your new normal, so to speak, the fact that we get to talk with you about that, I'll be honest with you, I'm very, very inspired and moved by you taking the time to share that with us.
D
Well, I was always taught, Jay, what doesn't kill you makes you stronger. And as I told people, they were like, why don't you just retire? I'm 24 years old. I moved down here. This is my life. This was my dream. If I retire, then he may as well have killed me because he's taken away my life. Oh, no, I'm coming back. I'm coming back stronger than before and I am going to become a voice for the victims. Because what a lot of people don't know is initially the city of Richmond, they're self insured. They did not want to cover my medical bills under workers comp because of the strong amount of community inquiry and support and the fact that the colonel order of police also got me a wonderful attorney. They did the right thing and they covered my medical bills and my work is comp. I was only out of work for six months. Ironically, they had me followed by a private investigator for three days. I'm like, really? Did you not see me on life support? You think I faked a gunshot wound to the head?
C
That's so not surprising. We've had so many officers even today that have been severely injured in line of duty and their departments don't back Them up. Here's something that kills me, especially this time of year we have elections, and one of the things they'll always say is, you know, it's those evil corporations who don't take care of people, blah, blah. And I always say this. The biggest offenders are cities, counties, and state government with their own first responders. The lack of taking care of them is mind boggling. When I was in the academy, Cheryl, I'm sure you heard the same thing. If something happens to you, we'll take care of you. We got your back. We'll be sure the family's okay. What that meant was if I was killed in line of duty, they'd be taken care of financially. What it didn't mean is if I was injured in line of duty, that I'd be taken care of. When that happens, quite often you're on your own.
D
Well, that's unfortunately very true. And you know, you're led to believe that if anything happens, they're your family man, they're going to take care of you. I will say this much. My family was treated like gold. My mom, when she got into town, they picked her up, they brought her to the hospital. Still very, very good friends with Sergeant Dave Haywood, who was assigned the responsibility for, you know, taking care of my family and taking care of me and making sure everything was okay. We're still very close friends, still keep in touch. He did a phenomenal job as far as taking care of my family when they got into town.
C
And I don't want to give the wrong impression. People misread what you say when I get upset about this. It's not the rank and file. They are our family. When we talk about that, I'm talking about admin and city hall and the bean counters. That's who the real troublemakers are. But enough of that conversation. You made it back to work, which in and of itself is mind boggling as well.
D
And the irony, Jay, I got taken out of a position in Special Operations Task Force that I had earned my way to prior to getting shot. And that same admin that you're talking about, the major in charge of patrol, put me back in patrol, working Churchill in an area where the guy who shot me had a drug house because his theory was, if you fall off the horse, you have to get back on now. You know, there's usually an unwritten rule that, you know, you get hurt in the line of duty and you come back, man, you write your own ticket any way you want to go. Automatic promotion to Detective Division or Whatever that's.
C
And that's the way it should be. They should take care of those people that have been catastrophically injured like you. But often that doesn't happen. And I could. I could literally scream at some of these admin people because either they forgot it was like, to be on the street, or quite honestly, a lot of them are what we call mobile report riders. They never did anything, and they really don't understand. But I don't want to waste valuable time talking about parasites like that, all right? I'd rather talk about people like you because, see, here's what I know that a lot of people don't know. Your career with the Richmond Police Department ended, but you continued on. You're now a social worker helping people, right?
D
Correct. I went back. I stayed for about another two and a half years. I was actually going to go to law school to become an attorney to help first responders injured in the line of duty to protect their rights. But what happened was I did my pre Lawrence social work, ended up getting married and taking a different route. So now I work with people with disabilities, and I help them find employment. I make sure that their human rights are not violated. I advocate for them, and I absolutely love what I do. But I also run Richmond United Law Enforcement, and that's an organization. We have a great community base, and that is designed to bring the community together with law enforcement. Because, as I told you earlier, that community support was a big part of why I came back. My community was behind me, and that's why the city decided to do the right thing, because they did not want to look bad in the eyes of the community. Because I was ready to hold a press conference with my jar all messed up and my head all messed up. I had an additional surgery that required a craniotomy. I still have scrap metal on the outer cortex of my brain. And I would have done a press conference right there at fifth and Broad. The city doesn't want to pay my medical bills. I don't know what to do, and I would have done it. You know, you live through getting shot in the head. You see things a whole lot differently. And, you know, law enforcement officers have somewhat of a sick sense of humor. And my thing used to be like, what are they gonna do, shoot me in the head? And can you do it on the right side? I'll have matching holes.
C
You know, you're amazing that you do this. And then every couple years, you have to go to the parole board and face this guy. This is a man again. As a term I can't use the appropriate terms I'd like to use. This is a guy who murdered three people, shot another officer, and then shot you, trying to kill you and the other officer as well. And every couple of years he's up for parole, which should not be the case.
D
No, unfortunately he was convicted prior to parole being abolished for violent offenders, which recently here is another joke.
C
Yeah, we're going to have to have you back to talk about that. We don't have enough time because them paroling the guy who killed a Richmond officer or a state trooping member back in the 70s is inexcusable. And that whole crew up there, I never ever thought I'd see the kind of stuff going on in Virginia that's happening today. Cheryl Nietzsche o', Connell, you are a source of inspiration for old guys like me. You are an amazing person, amazing police officer. I want to thank you so very much for spending time with us, telling us your story. It's very much appreciated.
D
Thanks Jay. I appreciate you having me on.
C
I'd like to thank our guests for coming on the Law Enforcement Talk Radio Show. The Law Enforcement Talk Radio show is a nationally syndicated weekly radio show broadcast on numerous AM&FM radio stations across the country. We're always adding more affiliate stations. If you enjoyed the podcast version of the show, which is always free, please do me a favor and tell a friend or two or three. I'll be back in just a few days with another episode of Law Enforcement Talk Radio show and Podcast. Until then, this is John J. Wiley. See ya.
A
Hi, I'm Andy Staples from Andy and Ariane three. And another five star quarterback just entered the transfer portal. That's what college football is now, a non stop adventure. And we cover it every day at Andy and Ariane 3. Whether it's the transfer portal, the College Football playoff, the coaching carousel, you name it. And guess what? It doesn't stop even when the season ends. So join us every day, Monday through Friday. New episodes drop at 3pm wherever you get your podcasts.
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From all of us at Believe. Have a Merry Christmas everyone and a Happy Holiday. If you like the show, please take.
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A moment to rate, review and subscribe.
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Thank you for listening.
Host: John "Jay" Wiley
Guest: Cheryl “Nietzsche” O’Connell, Former Richmond, Virginia Police Officer
Date: December 29, 2025
In this gripping episode, retired Baltimore Police Sergeant and host John J. Wiley interviews Cheryl Nietzsche O’Connell, a former Richmond, Virginia police officer who miraculously survived being shot in the head by a mass murderer. Through candid conversation, Cheryl recounts the chilling events of that night, her physical and emotional recovery, the aftermath—including her shocking treatment by the city—and how her life has pivoted toward advocacy and helping others. The episode offers a rare, firsthand perspective on trauma, resilience, and the realities of policing that go beyond the headlines.
[03:37]
[05:52]
Cheryl describes not realizing she had been shot as she lost vision and then regained it, only to find herself in an ambulance.
She discusses how trauma memories are vivid and long-lasting.
[08:00]
[08:42]
[13:04–17:23]
[21:04]
[28:02]
[31:17–33:34]
[34:45–36:13]
[36:13–38:22]
[38:22–38:59]