Police Shot by a Mass Murderer: She Survived and the City’s Response Shocked Her. Special Episode. 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. Look for The Law Enforcement Talk Radio Show and Podcast on social media like their Facebook , Instagram , LinkedIn , Medium and other social media platforms.
Now, decades later, her story is being shared in a special episode of the Law Enforcement Talk Radio Show and Podcast, available across Facebook, Instagram, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and YouTube, and most major podcast platforms.
It's not just as a story of survival, but as a powerful account of resilience, recovery, and a troubling response from the very city she served. Supporting articles about this and much more from Law Enforcement Talk Radio Show and Podcast in platforms like Medium , Blogspot and Linkedin .
An Ordinary Shift That Became a Nightmare
At just 24 years old, Officer Cheryl Nici-O’Connell was working an off-duty uniformed job at the Richmond Marriott Hotel on a Friday night, hoping to earn some extra income. At the same time, law enforcement across the Richmond area was urgently searching for a suspect wanted in a triple murder and the attempted murder of a sheriff’s deputy. Police Shot by a Mass Murderer: She Survived and the City’s Response Shocked Her. Special Episode. Available for free on their website and streaming on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Youtube and other podcast platforms.
Unknowingly, Nici-O’Connell came face-to-face with that very fugitive.
“I was ambush attacked and shot in the head from three-to-five feet away by a total stranger,” she recalled.
The gunman aimed directly at her temple, firing a .357 Magnum loaded with a .38-caliber round. The bullet entered her face, tore through her mouth, and lodged just an eighth of an inch from her carotid artery.
Doctors did not expect her to survive the night.
“It Looked Like Red Paint Was Being Poured Over Everything”
The moments after the shooting are forever etched into her memory.
“The next thing I know, I heard a loud explosion,” she said. “I looked toward Broad Street, and everything was blurry. It looked like someone was pouring red paint over a picture of Broad Street.” Police Shot by a Mass Murderer: She Survived and the City’s Response Shocked Her. Special Episode. The Law Enforcement Talk Radio Show and Podcast episode is available for free on their website , Apple Podcasts , Spotify and most major podcast platforms.
Against all odds, she lived.
Her survival, she says, was not hers alone.
“I’m here to tell you if it was not for the support of the police officers I worked with, and also the Richmond community, I would not be here today.”
That support, from fellow officers and everyday citizens, stood in stark contrast to what followed.
The Aftermath: Survival Was Only the Beginning
While Cheryl Nici-O’Connell fought through a long and painful recovery, she also faced what she describes as shocking treatment by city government after the shooting. In the podcast interview, she speaks candidly about the challenges that came not from the gunshot wound, but from navigating a system that failed to fully support a wounded officer. Police Shot by a Mass Murderer: She Survived and the City’s Response Shocked Her. Special Episode. The special episode can be found on The Law Enforcement Talk Radio Show and Podcast website, on Apple podcasts, Spotify, Youtube and on LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, and across most podcast platforms where listeners will find authentic law enforcement stories.
Her attacker was eventually arrested, tried, and sentenced to multiple life terms. Yet the trauma never truly ended.
In 2002, and nearly every year since, Nici-O’Connell has been required to relive the attack during parole hearings.
“I wish I could forget,” she said quietly.
Turning Pain Into Purpose
Today, Cheryl Nici-O’Connell is retired from law enforcement but far from finished serving. She is actively involved with Richmond United for Law Enforcement, an organization founded on January 2, 2015, dedicated to bringing together law enforcement and the Metro Richmond and Tri-Cities communities of Virginia. Police Shot by a Mass Murderer: She Survived and the City’s Response Shocked Her. Special Episode. The full podcast episode is streaming now on their website, on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Youtube and across Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn.
Her story, shared through interviews, public speaking, and now this special podcast episode, stands as a reminder of the real human cost behind the badge, and the responsibility cities have to care for those who put their lives on the line.
“I still work to help others,” she says, a testament to a resilience forged in unimaginable circumstances.
A Story That Still Matters
Cheryl Nici-O’Connell’s journey is not just about surviving a bullet fired by a mass murderer. It is about accountability, compassion, and the long road officers walk after the headlines fade. Police Shot by a Mass Murderer: She Survived and the City’s Response Shocked Her. Special Episode.
Her full story can be heard on the Law Enforcement Talk Radio Show and Podcast, streaming now on Facebook, Instagram, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and YouTube and most major podcast platforms. It's a special episode that confronts the realities of service, sacrifice, and survival head-on.
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You can help contribute money to make the Gunrunner Movie . The film that Hollywood won’t touch. It is about a now Retired Police Officer that was shot 6 times while investigating Gunrunning. He died 3 times during Medical treatment and was resuscitated. You can join the fight by giving a monetary “gift” to help ensure the making of his film at agunrunnerfilm.com .
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Police Shot by a Mass Murderer: She Survived and the City’s Response Shocked Her. Special Episode.
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