SATURDAY, JULY 23, 2011 (Updated 3:00 am)
By JOE KILLIAN
Staff Writer
GREENSBORO — Friends of Josh Prago said they weren’t surprised his last act was to shield three frightened children from a gunman’s bullets with his own body.
“He died saving those children,” said Lindsay Cloer, a close friend and co-worker of Prago’s. “That was Josh. He had a fierce love for people, he always gave of himself and wanted to help.”
Cloer spent part of the day Friday in the hospital visiting Prago’s girlfriend Hli Nie, “Holly” to her friends. Police say she was shot in the hand when Hoanh Rcom, an ex-boyfriend with whom she had two children, forced his way into her apartment on Brandonshire Court with an assault rifle.
Police say Rcom shot and killed Prago, family friend Hdingh Nie and Jason Rcom, Rcom’s 6-year-old son with Hli Nie.
ADVERTISEMENT | Advertise with Us
Hli Nie and Rcom’s 10-year-old daughter wasn’t harmed. Hdingh Nie’s 12-year-old daughter was injured.
Cloer said Hli Nie is recovering well physically and just learned of Prago’s death Friday. Cloer said in Hli Nie’s account of the attack, Prago took Jason and the two young girls into a closet during the attack, covering them as Rcom fired a hail of bullets through the door.
Police said they could neither confirm nor deny those details. According to police, Rcom admitted to shooting several people when questioned the night of the attack, but an investigation is ongoing. More information may be available over the weekend, officials said.
A solemn Rcom made his first court appearance Friday. Speaking in mumbled broken English and through a Montagnard interpreter, he told Guilford County District Court Judge Angela Foster he wanted to defend himself.
Foster superseded him, appointing an attorney to defend Rcom against three counts of first-degree murder, two counts of assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill and assault with a deadly weapon on a government official by crashing a truck into a police car, injuring the officer. His next court appearance is scheduled for Aug. 16.
Relatives of Rcom and Hli Nie did not appear in court and couldn’t be reached for comment Friday. They are both immigrants from Vietnam, part of the tight knit local Montagnard community.
Friends said Hli Nie, 27, has been in the United States since she was 19.
Dock Rmah, Rcom’s appointed interpreter, said he believed Rcom understood everything that was said to him in court.
“He is very sad, very emotional,” Rmah said after the hearing. “His crimes are very heavy and he thinks no one can help him, so he said he will try to help himself.”
Rcom was served a protective order that prohibited contact with Hli Nie on July 7. The order also prevented him from buying or possessing a firearm until the end of the term of the order, July 15, 2012.
Friends of Prago and Hli Nie said they had been dating a little over four months. He had been instrumental in helping her get that protective order, they said, and recently helped her move to a new address they were trying to keep from Rcom.
“He cared for her so much and the children,” said Melinda Pulido, a friend of Prago. “He was trying to familiarize Holly with the justice system, to let her know there were things she could do. He was trying to help keep her safe.”
Longtime friends of the 43-year-old Prago said that was a theme throughout his life.
“He was attracted to damsels in distress,” said Kevin Harron, a friend of Prago’s since the fourth grade. The two played soccer together at Grimsley High School and were roommates for several years.
“He was a big-hearted guy that way,” Harron said. “He wanted to help people out of bad situations. He wanted to make other peoples’ lives better.”
Harron said Prago used to talk about becoming a parole officer, attracted to the idea of giving second chances. He really threw himself into helping others after becoming heavily involved in Christianity in his 20s, Harron said, and went on international Christian mission trips to Nicaragua and Kenya, where he taught soccer to children.
Pastor John Kimmons of Adams Farm Community Church said he’s known Prago for 15 years.
“He has always been the kind of guy who stepped up when people needed help,” Kimmons said. “He was blind to peoples’ differences, blind to their past, and he had a drive to help everyone, especially children.”
Friends said Prago had grown very fond of Hli Nie and her children in the past few months, taking them to church with him and on a vacation with his family. He also wanted to protect her from Rcom, who she alleged in court documents beat her and forced her to return to him after their breakup.
Hli Nie and Rcom had two children together, so friends of the two said Prago wanted to negotiate a peace between them so Rcom could continue to visit the children.
“He wanted to protect her and the kids,” Kimmons said. “He talked to the boyfriend and tried to make peace. He thought he could. He always saw the best in people.”
No comments:
Post a Comment