Two Men Tried To Abduct An Innocent Little Girl, But There Was Something Standing In their Way…

When we wave goodbye at the school gate, we rely on our teachers to act as guardians as well as educators. However, this woman recently just went above and beyond to fulfill her duty.

In Valdosta, Georgia, on August 14, 2015, Westside Elementary School was experiencing a typical Friday. On a warm summer afternoon, children played at the playground for recess, an elementary teacher was wrapping up the school day when suddenly she spotted something that didn’t look quite right sending her running.

Westside Elementary School in Lowndes County, Georgia

It was a quarter after 2 p.m. when Ginger Taylor witnessed two men walk onto the playground full of kids. Taylor ran after the men in a dead sprint when one of them tried to flee with a 5-year-old girl he had grabbed.

In an attempt to confront the strangers and retrieve the student, Taylor bolted for the playground, but they pushed her to the ground and made a getaway. Taylor moved quickly. Fortunately, she noticed the license plate and searched for the car the men were driving. A BOLO (Be On the Look Out) was subsequently issued when she informed the school resource officer. According to a statement provided to WCTV by the Lowndes County Sheriff’s Office, the local Sheriff’s office implemented protocol and regional law enforcement began searching for the child.

The car was discovered only a short while later close to Valdosta Regional Airport. Officers initiated a traffic stop and were able to rescue the child, who was swiftly reunited with her mother.

The suspects were identified as 33-year-old Michael McCormick and 36-year-old Scott Stapp, who were the child’s non-custodial father and a friend. The two allegedly took the youngster on a flight from Mississippi to Georgia, and if it weren’t for Taylor’s quick thinking, they could have been able to catch a flight heading west before being apprehended by authorities.

Michael McCormick and David Stapp

Taylor was then hailed as a hero and honored by both the Lowndes County Board of Education and Lowndes County Sheriff Chris Prine during a board of education meeting. Taylor was given a prolonged standing ovation from everyone in the room as a token of gratitude for preventing a child kidnapping.

Westside Principal Suzanne Tanner introduced Taylor:

“Last Friday, our school faced one of the greatest fears an educator can have, and that is to have someone to take a child from our care by force,” Tanner said. “It’s unthinkable for us. We work hard to keep our children safe at all times, but it’s really hard to prepare for the unpredictable. When the time came and we were confronted with the emergency, each person had to use their wit and their courage to know what to do next.”

“We’ve set a protocol in the event something like this happen. I certainly wasn’t expecting it to happen as soon as it did. But I certainly couldn’t have had a better witness than Ms. Taylor. She passed the information on to our SRO, they got in touch with 911, we dumped everybody out of the sheriff’s office. Everybody stopped what they were doing and focused on the school and the surrounding part of the county,” Prine told the crowd gathered at the board’s meeting.

Suzanne Tanner, Principal of Westside Elementary School; Ginger Taylor, Kindergarten Teacher at Westside Elementary School; Pam Williams, Representative from the Governor’s office

But for her part, Taylor has turned to her faith in response to the outpouring of praise directed towards her for her role in thwarting the abduction.

“I’m honored to be recognized, but I’d like to give the glory to God,” Taylor told the crowd, “because He was there for me, protecting me, the child, every teacher on the playground, all my coworkers, and without Him, the child wouldn’t be here.”

Well done to this teacher. We can’t imagine how relieved the child’s family is.

Sources: TapHaps, WCTV, Valdostadailytimes