By Tessa Roy, WPRO News
Connor Devine, 21, said he didn’t think twice when he stepped in to help save a woman’s life during a stabbing at a Warwick Rite Aid. However, he’s not calling himself a hero.
“This to me is a situation [where] I just had to act. It’s not something out of the ordinary for me,” he said.
Devine described the March 2017 incident, saying he yelled for staff to call 911 and intervened with a utility cart when he saw the stabbing unfold. Victim Alyssa Garcia later survived, while attacker Jacob Gallant was sentenced to 45 years in prison with 25 to serve.
“He had no reaction to me at all. When I started going at him to get him off Alyssa, he had no reaction, blank slate. He just stopped after a certain point,” Devine recalled.
Warwick Mayor Joseph Solomon presented him with the Carnegie Hero Award, a prestigious award created to “recognize civilization’s heroes.” A number of Devine’s family members were present at Warwick City Hall as he received the honor.
“The community needs more people like Connor Devine,” Solomon said.
