It’s no secret that emergency responders are like one big family who sticks by each other sides through thick and thin. With that said, not many moments exemplify that the way this touching story does. This teen’s father couldn’t be at her graduation, so 300 of his colleagues showed up in his place.
This will bring tears to your eyes.
This teen wears her firefighter father’s jacket as she’s forced to get her diploma without him, and has overwhelming support from his co-workers
As a firefighter, your job is to run into the danger that most people flee from, but to think that tragedy will strike while you’re on your own home front is almost unfathomable. That’s what happened in Tory Carlon’s case, when a disgruntled colleague showed up at the Fire Station he worked for shooting and killing the 20-year veteran of the Los Angeles County Fire Department.
Carlon was a firefighter at Fire Station 81 in Agua Dulce, California, who had been on the job for two decades. On June 1, a disgruntled firefighter engineer showed up at the station and did the unthinkable.
The assailant was identified as co-worker Jonathan Tatone, who died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound shortly after the incident
Tatone was not scheduled to work that day, but showed up anyway and shot Carlon before fleeing to his home, setting it on fire, and taking his own life. L.A. County Fire Chief Daryl Osby described Carlon as:
“truly dedicated, one of our better firefighters, amazing, and a true loss to our department.”
Carlon’s colleague, Lt. Brandon Dean, gave some insight into why Tatone committed the horrifying act
According to Lt. Dean, the fire department employees didn’t work the same shift but had disputes about operations among other things.
“We do believe there was some disagreement over work performance and work-related issues. How long it has been going on we don’t know yet,” said Lt. Dean.
Carlon left behind his wife and three daughters, the oldest of whom was getting ready to graduate high school
The slain firefighters’ oldest daughter, Joslyn, was set to receive her diploma from Saugus High School just two days after her father was senselessly killed.
Knowing the pain Joslyn must be going through, Carlon’s colleagues knew they had to do whatever they could to show their support to the young lady. They sent an email chain to L.A. county firefighters asking them to show up to be there for Joslyn as she graduated.
Fire trucks from all over L.A. County lined the parking lot, as well as 300 firefighters who came to show their support at the graduation ceremony
Joslyn received a standing ovation and roaring applause from her father’s 300 colleagues, as she walked to the stage to receive her diploma wearing her dad’s jacket.
The young woman was understandably overcome with emotion as she received her diploma and Fire Department Capt. Chris Reade explained how with only one day’s notice they all dropped their plans to make this happen.
“We’re here to make sure that she knows we’re all thinking about her. We found out last night, email goes fast, and we all dropped everything we were doing in our personal lives and came down here to show our support,” Said Capt. Reade.
With the husband and father taken suddenly, the Carlon’s will need all the help they can get. A GoFundMe was set up for the mourning family, where the donations will help them through the unimaginable tragedy.
To see the touching but heartbreaking story for yourself, watch the video below
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