Heroic South Carolina police officer rescues woman after mouthing 'help me' during traffic stop

A South Carolina police officer is being commended for her actions after she saved a woman who mouthed “help me” during a traffic stop, leading to a shooting suspect’s arrest, authorities said. 

Police officer Kayla Wallace pulled over a white Jeep that ran a red light along U.S. Highway 17 just before sunrise on May 28, the North Myrtle Police Department said in a Facebook post. 

Inside the vehicle was a female driver and a female passenger. Wallace said that she could tell the woman seemed distressed. 

“While the male passenger wasn’t looking at the driver, the female silently mouthed ‘help me’ repeatedly” to Wallace, North Myrtle Beach Police spokesperson Pat Wilkinson said in a statement to CNN.

Noticing the woman’s plea for help, Wallace asked the male passenger to exit the car and placed him in the back seat of the patrol car. 

When Wallace returned to talk to the woman, she “frantically” told her that the man sitting next to her had just shot someone, authorities reported. 

Soon after, Wallace received a radio alert from dispatchers urging officers to be on the lookout for a vehicle involved in a shooting. The description of the vehicle and the suspect matched the woman’s car and the male passenger. Wallace called the county police for backup. 

Wallace arrested the man, who was later identified as Collin Bates, 29. Bates allegedly shot someone outside a sports bar in Myrtle Beach and then forced the woman to drive him away. He is facing charges of attempted murder, kidnapping, and possession of a weapon during a violent crime.

“Due to Officer Wallace proactively patrolling the streets of North Myrtle Beach, even to the last 30 minutes of her shift, a suspect in a shooting was arrested and an unlawfully carried pistol was recovered underneath the suspect’s seat,” the police department’s Facebook post read.