No coincidences
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Sgt. Joshua Scharman is not a sentimental man. He calls it as he sees it.
That's why you take him at his word when he says it's too much of a coincidence that he was baptized on a Saturday, confirmed on Sunday, and on Monday led a Salt Lake SWAT team in ending a tragic shooting spree.
"There are too many things that aligned to write it off as coincidence," the veteran of the Salt Lake Police Department said two weeks after he helped stop an 18-year-old gunman who opened fire in a Salt Lake shopping center. Six people, including the gunman, died that evening and four were injured in Trolley Square, but many others credit five police officers, including Sgt. Scharman, with saving their lives.
The SWAT team sergeant, one of four sergeants in a 28-member team, doesn't know what, if any, different outcomes might have occurred had he not received less than 30 hours before what he calls the "tremendous gift" of the Holy Ghost. But of this he's sure: "I've operated for so many years relying on ability and training and, all of a sudden, I've got this other influence, something higher that will enhance those qualities I already have and been surviving with. It's hard to describe. That's the completion of the puzzle for me."
To honor the five who have been called "hometown heroes," the Utah Legislature issued official citations on Friday, Feb. 16. On Feb. 23, U.S. Sen. Orrin Hatch received the men in his office in Salt Lake City, presenting them with plaques containing a speech he had entered into the official minutes of the U.S. Congress in Washington, D.C. Standing with Sgt. Scharman were his team members Brett Olsen, who is also his brother-in-law; and detective Dustin Marshall, who is not LDS, along with Sgt. Andy Oblad, who is also a Church member, and Ogden Police Officer Kenneth Hammond, who is not LDS and who was credited with distracting the gunman until Sgt. Scharman and the others arrived. (Please see Feb. 17, 2007, Church News.)
In Church News telephone interviews, Sgt. Scharman, his wife, Robyn, and Brother Olsen and his wife, Emily, spoke of the gospel of Jesus Christ in their lives, what led to the SWAT leader joining the Church and how gospel principles help them — as officers and as wives — cope with the pressures of law enforcement.
Sister Scharman echoed her husband's sentiments when she said, "There are no coincidences." She related a pattern in their lives that began when Joshua Scharman and Brett Olsen were high school buddies in Salt Lake City, one an active Latter-day Saint and the other described by his friend as "having higher morals and values than a lot of people I've known."
In 1992, Brother Olsen left to serve in the Georgia Macon Mission. While he was gone, his best friend married his sister, Robyn Olsen. After his mission, he married Emily Hitch in the Salt Lake Temple. The two couples became very close, with Brett and Joshua working together in a sporting goods store, then later entering the police academy. Children also came. Brother and Sister Scharman have two children; the Olsens, three.
Four years ago came the birth of the Scharmans' youngest child. The nurse, Sandi Oehler, helping with the baby, noticed the young couple's address and realized they lived in her ward boundaries. From that point on, the Scharmans and Dave and Sandi Oehler became the best of friends.
Brother Scharman quickly noticed that his friendship with the Oehlers and other ward members didn't depend on his being a Church member. He felt accepted, and "years of resentment," as he explained, "melted away pretty quick with that."
Through his wife's influence and patience, and the friendship of ward members, Brother Scharman began taking the missionary discussions from Elder Brad Dahl and Elder Guido Kuhn of the Utah Ogden Mission. Early in February, the elders and the Scharmans sat down to set a baptismal date. One elder suggested Feb. 17. The other emphatically said it should be Feb. 10. The police sergeant chose the latter.
Brother Scharman and Brother Olsen emphasized the spiritual guidance they received the chilly Monday evening of the shooting — both as to what parking lot they entered at Trolley Square and which door they chose to enter the mall. Brother Olsen said as he approached the shopping mall with his siren on, people began motioning him to a particular spot. "Something told me, 'You shouldn't be going there."' He chose another lot, and there were his brother-in-law and two other officers with the SWAT team waiting.
With Brother Scharman leading the way, they entered the center, and within seconds, the crisis ended.
That night, the two friends and brothers-in-law were safely home with their wives, whom they credit for providing the spiritual foundation they need to, in effect, hang up their uniforms and focus on being husbands, fathers and priesthood holders. Their most important partnerships, they say, are their wives and the Lord.
In police work, Brother Olsen said, "You cannot lose your faith for a second. If you want to keep a successful and happy marriage, you need the Church. If you don't have a strong foundation at home, it's not going to work."
Robyn Scharman and Emily Olsen don't need to worry who their children's heroes will be. Heroes, they said, will always be Daddy.
E-mail to: julied@desnews.com
