Madison County Deputy Brad Sullivan speaks following the sentencing of Edgar Egbert. Photo by SuperTalk News.
Madison County Deputy Brad Sullivan was among those in the Madison County Courtroom this morning as Edgar Egbert, the suspect who left him confined to a wheelchair and blind in his right eye pled guilty to six counts of attempted murder.
Egbert was sentenced to six life sentences on the charges that stemmed from a September 5, 2019 incident during which, he testified, that he was trying to commit suicide by officer. During today’s proceedings, Deputy Sullivan recounted the events of that day as he responded to a hostage situation that eventually became a high-speed pursuit after he dropped off his 8-year-old son at school.
The pursuit lasted a few miles before Egbert crashed his car on Highway 16 in Canton. As Deputy Sullivan attempted to back his vehicle up, Egbert opened fire with a fully automatic weapon. Sullivan was struck twice in the head as nearly 100 rounds were fired at the officers on the scene. He was eventually airlifted to UMMC, where he would awake six weeks later. After months of rehab, he was able to spend Christmas with his family. Detailing his adjustment to his new life, Sullivan stressed that while Egbert was facing attempted murder charges, “he murdered Deputy Brad Sullivan” and took away life as he knew it.
After being declared competent to stand trial, the suspect addressed the court and stated that he didn’t mean for anyone other than himself to get hurt that day. The defense countered with the argument that Egbert’s initial kidnapping of a victim and decision to arm himself and his vehicles showed otherwise in addition to telling his wife that he intended to “kill any cop” that showed up.
Sheriff Randy Tucker spoke during the hearing and called for the max sentence while lamenting the fact that they could not pursue the death penalty in this case.
On his continued road to recovery, Deputy Sullivan received an outpour of support from across the country, including from then-President Donald Trump. Speaking after the sentencing, he asked for continued prayers for all law enforcement officers as the unpredictability of the job is all too real for him.
“We chose this line of working knowing the thought of what could happen, but we also chose this line of work because we wanted to help other people and make sure stuff like this didn’t happen to them. We weren’t responding to a call to hurt anyone. We were responding to the call to help a citizen of the county. Even Mr. Egbert, we weren’t going there to harm him,” Sullivan, a hostage negotiator, said. “My plan was to go there and talk to him, hopefully, and be able to get him calmly out of the house and get him the help he needed, but the change of events happened.”
District Attorney John Bramlett detailed that they chose not to pursue kidnapping and felony evasion charges as the defense knew they had enough to keep Egbert in prison for the rest of his life. The individual that was kidnapped passed away last summer.
