Bill Badger, who helped save lives during Tucson’s Jan. 8, 2011, shooting spree, died Wednesday morning. He was 78.
Badger, a retired Army National Guard colonel, died at Tucson Medical Center. He had been in failing health for several weeks, said his wife, Sallie Badger. Badger had been in an out of the hospital, suffering from heart and pneumonia issues.
Sallie Badger and their son, Christian, 25, were at his bedside when Badger died.
“We told him all we loved about him, and thanked him for everything he had done for us. It was heartbreaking and very gratifying,” she said, weeping.
“The thing that is important for people to know is that Bill was a hero long before January 8, 2011. He influenced so many lives. I have been getting calls from people in the military whose lives he touched,” she said.
“An Air Force officer he influenced, who became a pilot, came and visited him. Boy Scouts came to see him. One Eagle Scout gave Bill his mentor badge. The young man is 25 years old, like my son, who is an Eagle Scout.”
Bill Badger was one of the many people who went to a Tucson-area Safeway that morning in 2011 to meet then-U.S Rep. Gabrielle Giffords at an event she was holding to meet constituents.
A bullet grazed the back of his head when Jared Lee Loughner opened fire.
In minutes, six people were dead, and 13, including Giffords, were wounded.
During a pause in the gunfire, Badger and another man, Roger Salzgeber, tackled Loughner.
A third person at the scene, Patricia Maisch, then snagged Loughner’s gun magazine.
“I have deep, deep gratitude for Bill’s actions that day,” Pam Simon recalled Wednesday.
Simon, 67, a retired teacher who was Giffords’ community outreach coordinator, was shot by Loughner in the middle of the chest and through the right wrist.
She became a close friend to Badger and his wife after the shooting. Simon described Badger as a “humble hero,” and also gave thanks to Salzgeber for his bravery in tackling and holding Loughner down, along with Badger.
“Bill grabbed his (Loughner’s) arm, twisted it behind him, took him down and held him down. He used his professional knowledge from his military experience,” recalled Simon.
She said she got to know Badger well, along with Sallie, as they and others later fought to reduce gun violence across the nation.
“Bill was a gun owner, a Republican and a powerful spokesman for gun-violence prevention,” Simon said.
Mary Reed, 56, said of Badger’s death, “I was the last one shot, and he jumped over me to tackle Jared Loughner. ... He was truly the kindest, most loving man you could know, and he will be missed so terribly.”
On Wednesday, Salzgeber, 65, remembered Badger as an “extremely nice” man who took him and others on a tour of the Western Army National Guard Aviation Training Site in Marana. Badger’s military career included six years as commander of the site before he retired in 1991.
“He let us go into a simulator to feel how it was like flying a helicopter,” recalled Salzgeber.
“And he loved his cream-colored Jaguar XKE sports car. It was a mid-1950s model, and he took me for in a ride in that car.”
Giffords said in a written statement Wednesday, “I’m so sad to learn that Bill Badger has passed away. Bill was not only a great man and a proud Army veteran, he was a hero.
“On January 8, 2011, Bill was wounded in the head by a bullet from the gun of my would-be assassin. Not even pausing to realize he had been injured, Bill ran towards the shooter and towards danger so that he could help subdue him until the authorities arrived. I believe that Bill helped save lives that morning. And I will always be grateful to him for his selfless, brave actions.
“My heart, thoughts and prayers are with Bill’s loved ones as they mourn the loss of a great man.”
Former U.S. Rep. Ron Barber, who also was shot and injured that day, offered his condolences to Sallie Badger, family and friends, saying he was proud to call Bill a friend.
“The label ‘hero’ can be overused, but Bill was undoubtedly one of the true heroes when a gunman opened fire at the shopping center. ... Although he had been grazed by a bullet and was bleeding from his head, Bill disregarded his own well-being and joined two others to stop the gunman. ... I will forever be grateful for his bravery and the lives he saved,” Barber said.
Services are being arranged.
