• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • Home
  • About
  • The Magazine
  • Events
  • Partners
  • Products
  • Advertise
  • Contact
  • Jobs and Careers
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram
  • Subscribe to the Magazine
American Police Beat

American Police Beat Magazine

Law Enforcement Publication

  • Home
  • Editor’s Picks
    • The power of teamwork
      Stay awake and alert on the job
      The worst rank in law enforcement
      Firearms maintenance
      Why fries need salt
  • Topics
    • On the Job
      • Michigan police officer and bystanders hailed as heroes after...
        Florida police officers recount heroic rescue of 3-year-old boy...
        Semi-truck collides with South Dakota police cruiser during winter...
        Florida 9-1-1 dispatcher guides family member through CPR after...
        NYPD officer rappels down skyscraper to save man from jumping to his...
    • Labor
      • LAPD “accidentally” leaks personal information of undercover...
        LAPD union proposes police stop responding to non-emergency calls
        Florida’s recruitment program lures Chicago police officers to the...
        Staffing shortages plague Cleveland police as record number leave the...
        New Orleans interim police chief aims to hire civilians in time for...
    • Tech
      • New Jersey turns to license plate reader technology to address rise...
        One of country’s oldest cold cases solved with DNA from untested...
        Crypto crime investigations
        Austin Police Department launches non-emergency artificial...
        iPhone crash detection feature helps deputies rescue driver from canal
    • Training
      • New N.J. emergency service officers ready to respond in times of...
        Working effectively in low light
        Realism and stress inoculation in training
        Avoiding conflict and escalation
        U.S. trails in police training
    • Policy
      • Oregon law enforcement and retailers seek to combat organized...
        Utah bill aims to regulate how law enforcement uses genetic genealogy...
        Opposing POVs on permit-less carry
        Ohio bill would lower minimum age to become a police officer to 18 to...
        Utah bill would allow people with “invisible conditions” to alert...
    • Health/Wellness
      • Thinking of pulling the pin on retirement?
        Expanding your identity
        Nonprofit offers telehealth therapy to upstate New York first...
        A California police department’s new wellness unit aims to improve...
        Massachusetts police department prioritizes officers’ mental health...
    • Community
      • “Tennis brings us all together”: NYPD officers bond with youth...
        First responders share love of reading with children for Read Across...
        Colorado Springs police kick off annual soccer ball giveaway to bond...
        “These are beautiful animals”: Community members gift horses to...
        Central Texas nonprofit to open law enforcement museum in honor of...
    • Offbeat
      • Ohio police rescue man from brutal zebra attack
        Motorist stranded in Oregon wilderness without cell phone reception...
        Cincinnati police work with animal rescuers to capture exotic cat...
        Not UFOs: Police departments across the country receive 9-1-1 calls...
        Texas deputy detains runaway tortoise after “slowest foot...
    • We Remember
      • New Jersey girl supports first responders through Running 4 Heroes...
        Law enforcement from across the country join seventh annual Fallen...
        Boone County holds fifth annual Jacob Pickett Remembrance Day to...
        Farewell to a “living legend”: Oldest law enforcement officer in...
        “Officer Becerra will never be forgotten”: Colorado police...
  • On the Job
    • Michigan police officer and bystanders hailed as heroes after...
      Florida police officers recount heroic rescue of 3-year-old boy...
      Semi-truck collides with South Dakota police cruiser during winter...
      Florida 9-1-1 dispatcher guides family member through CPR after...
      NYPD officer rappels down skyscraper to save man from jumping to his...
  • Labor
    • LAPD “accidentally” leaks personal information of undercover...
      LAPD union proposes police stop responding to non-emergency calls
      Florida’s recruitment program lures Chicago police officers to the...
      Staffing shortages plague Cleveland police as record number leave the...
      New Orleans interim police chief aims to hire civilians in time for...
  • Tech
    • New Jersey turns to license plate reader technology to address rise...
      One of country’s oldest cold cases solved with DNA from untested...
      Crypto crime investigations
      Austin Police Department launches non-emergency artificial...
      iPhone crash detection feature helps deputies rescue driver from canal
  • Training
    • New N.J. emergency service officers ready to respond in times of...
      Working effectively in low light
      Realism and stress inoculation in training
      Avoiding conflict and escalation
      U.S. trails in police training
  • Policy
    • Oregon law enforcement and retailers seek to combat organized...
      Utah bill aims to regulate how law enforcement uses genetic genealogy...
      Opposing POVs on permit-less carry
      Ohio bill would lower minimum age to become a police officer to 18 to...
      Utah bill would allow people with “invisible conditions” to alert...
  • Health/Wellness
    • Thinking of pulling the pin on retirement?
      Expanding your identity
      Nonprofit offers telehealth therapy to upstate New York first...
      A California police department’s new wellness unit aims to improve...
      Massachusetts police department prioritizes officers’ mental health...
  • Community
    • “Tennis brings us all together”: NYPD officers bond with youth...
      First responders share love of reading with children for Read Across...
      Colorado Springs police kick off annual soccer ball giveaway to bond...
      “These are beautiful animals”: Community members gift horses to...
      Central Texas nonprofit to open law enforcement museum in honor of...
  • Offbeat
    • Ohio police rescue man from brutal zebra attack
      Motorist stranded in Oregon wilderness without cell phone reception...
      Cincinnati police work with animal rescuers to capture exotic cat...
      Not UFOs: Police departments across the country receive 9-1-1 calls...
      Texas deputy detains runaway tortoise after “slowest foot...
  • We Remember
    • New Jersey girl supports first responders through Running 4 Heroes...
      Law enforcement from across the country join seventh annual Fallen...
      Boone County holds fifth annual Jacob Pickett Remembrance Day to...
      Farewell to a “living legend”: Oldest law enforcement officer in...
      “Officer Becerra will never be forgotten”: Colorado police...
  • Between the Lines
    • The imprisonment of law enforcement technology
      Persecution of the LEO is classic schadenfreude
      The rule of law is worthless without order
      School policing: a paradox of the defund movement
      Defending the honor of the LE profession – finally!
  • About
  • The Magazine
  • Events
  • Partners
  • Products
  • Advertise
  • Contact
Search

On the Job

9/11 cop sees sunlight through his darkness

Bobby Egbert Published September 10, 2021 @ 9:00 am PDT

Port Authority Police Officer Christopher Amoroso is pictured shortly before he went back into 2 World Trade Center and was killed in the collapse on Sept. 11, 2001. Todd Maisel/New York Daily News

Will Jimeno lie in a hospital bed in 2001, never thinking his new police career was coming to an end. Being a police officer was in Jimeno’s plans from childhood. There is a saying, “If you want to hear God laugh, tell him your plans.” It could be said that Jimeno gave God a good laugh. His story is harrowing, his life an inspiration, his plans derailed.

Jimeno was two years old when he and his family immigrated to the United States from Colombia. “Nunca te rindas,” translated “never give up,” were his mother’s words of encouragement to help Jimeno navigate his new American life. It wasn’t easy being considered different by other children and trying to fit in, but he always had his mother’s words to guide him. Those words helped Jimeno fulfill a dream. Even though life has a way of disrupting one’s plans, a mother’s words remain true. 

Jimeno’s plans were crushed on September 11, 2001, when he, then a rookie Port Authority cop with 13 months on the job, responded with Sergeant John McLoughlin and Officers Dominick Pezzulo and Antonio Rodrigues in a commandeered bus to the World Trade Center from his Midtown Command. What Jimeno saw he could only describe as Armageddon with the north tower’s upper reaches burning in a fuel-fed inferno and the unimaginable sight of people jumping to their deaths. Many plans were destroyed that day.

Chaos reigned; they tried to make sense of what was happening while desperately working on getting people out of the doomed towers. The four officers were joined by Officer Christopher Amoroso, who was already injured from falling debris while rescuing people. A famous and powerful photograph by Todd Maisel of the New York Daily News shows Amoroso with facial injuries rescuing a woman before he went back into the towers to save more lives. Jimeno recalls other Port Authority cops, like classmate Walwyn Stuart, who just evacuated the WTC PATH Station beneath the complex. After Stuart evacuated all from the station, he ordered an incoming PATH train to return to New Jersey, saving approximately 1,500 more lives. Stuart fist-bumped Jimeno and went on to rescue many more. Jimeno also ran into Officer Bruce Reynolds, some 14 years senior to Jimeno, on the job. Reynolds told Jimeno, “You know what, kid, it is going to be a long day, but we are going to get a lot of people home.” Stuart and Reynolds were two of the 37 Port Authority cops killed that day.

The south tower began to collapse, “sounding like a thousand freight trains running over us, a huge fireball the size of my house was racing toward us,” Jimeno remembered. Sergeant McLoughlin yelled, “run, run toward the elevator!” Jimeno is amazed McLoughlin had the situational awareness and presence of mind to know the elevator shaft would be one of the tower’s remaining strengths. Jimeno is immensely thankful for McLoughlin’s leadership, “someone who knew what he was doing.”

The collapse of the south tower buried the five officers under tons of concrete and steel. McLoughlin, pinned and seriously injured, could not see the others through the darkness, flames and smoke as he yelled for his cops to sound off. Jimeno and Pezzulo answered up. However, Amoroso and Rodrigues did not. Jimeno was calling out for the two officers when Pezzulo said, “Willy, they’re in a better place.” 

Pezzulo, who was originally face down in a pushup position and not trapped, went to work trying to free Jimeno when the north tower collapsed, inflicting him with mortal injuries. His final words were to Jimeno, “Willy, I’m dying, don’t forget I died trying to save you guys.” Pezzulo’s last act as a police officer was unholstering his gun, firing a single round into a hole that sunlight had penetrated in hopes someone would notice. Officer Dominick Pezzulo then lowered his head and died. Jimeno was frantically screaming, “Dom’s gone, Dom’s gone.” McLoughlin yelled, “Stay focused, stay focused!” 

Will Jimeno Will Jimeno
John McLoughlin IMDB
Dominick Pezzulo
Antonio Rodrigues
Bruce Reynolds
Walwyn Stuart PAPD

Jimeno was buried for 13 hours, McLoughlin, hours more. New York City Police Department Emergency Service Unit Officer Scott Strauss, one of those who risked their lives to save Jimeno and McLoughlin, said the space Jimeno was trapped in was no bigger than the space underneath a typical dining room chair. To make matters worse, one of Jimeno’s legs was pinned by an iron girder. Strauss, while describing what he faced, said, “Will was encased in rubble; it looked like he was poured out of a dump truck.”

After hours of removing debris with his fingers, Strauss realized Jimeno could not be moved because of his pinned leg. The thought of amputating Jimeno’s leg began to take on some reality. Above on the pile, as the site was called by first responders, an emergency room doctor was ready to instruct Strauss how to amputate a leg. United States Marine David Karnes, who first located Jimeno and McLoughlin, sent down his Marine KA-BAR knife. Strauss did not want to amputate Jimeno’s leg but knew he might need to in order to save McLoughlin. Jimeno understood the dire situation and begged Strauss to cut off his leg and save McLoughlin. Strauss, with help from his partners above who located a compact, battery-operated Jaws of Life, was able to move the girder just enough to free Jimeno’s leg.

Jimeno and McLoughlin both endured numerous surgeries and were eventually medically retired. Jimeno remembered visiting a state doctor a couple of years later asking when he can return to work. The doctor said, “You’re done. Your police officer days are over.” Jimeno was shocked. He planned on a long police career. Jimeno recalled the ride home as the longest drive of his life. He had to accept he would no longer be a cop, destroying his life-long plans. What he did not know was his future had plans for him as a public speaker and author.

Jimeno’s new life saw him focusing on his family. “I could be a good dad and a good husband,” he reasoned while reflecting on his loss. Understandably, Jimeno began to change, struggling with depression, anxiety and injuries manifesting in classic post-traumatic stress disorder. He recalled the day his daughter faced off with him about his anger. When Jimeno was buried, he made the decision to live. Now, he decided to accept his trauma and live a new life. Jimeno, a United States Navy veteran, knew the best plans only survive until the first shot is fired.

His final words were to Jimeno, “Willy, I’m dying, don’t forget I died trying to save you guys.”

One day in 2003, a neighbor asked Jimeno if he would speak to his child’s grammar school class. Jimeno agreed but had no idea how to talk to youngsters about his experience. Once in the classroom, Jimeno learned the children held many fears as a result of 9/11, such as a fear of getting on an airplane with their families. Jimeno found common ground and spoke of overcoming his fears and obstacles, pursuing his dreams, making new memories and living plans never imagined.

Jimeno’s talk with the children created word-of-mouth that had Jimeno in demand. Jimeno is blessed with a natural ability for public speaking. What began with the children led to Jimeno speaking to countless universities, law enforcement and first responder groups, and military units, among many others. Plans other than his began to design a new life.

In addition to Jimeno’s speaking appearances, he co-wrote two books; a children’s book titled, Immigrant, American, Survivor: A Little Boy Who Grew Up To Be All Three, available on bookseller sites. The book’s co-writer, Charles Ricciardi, illustrated Jimeno’s story.

In a second book, released in August 2021 and titled, Sunrise Through the Darkness: A Survivor’s Account of Learning To Live Again Beyond 9/11, Jimeno writes about surviving tragedy, the effects of post-traumatic stress disorder on those who have suffered trauma and their loved ones, and “nunca te rindas,” never giving up. Movie director Oliver Stone called Sunrise Through the Darkness, co-authored by Dr. Michael Moats, Psy.D., “A vivid, grueling, step-by-step return from the dead to the living … Will inspire you, especially those without hope and those who seek to help others in jeopardy.”

In his children’s book, Jimeno tells children how scared he was that day, “but his training taught him that courage is about not letting fear stop you.” He also writes of his thoughts while buried, those of his daughter, his wife and his second child, due to be born in a few months. With those thoughts in mind, “Will made a choice that all of us have the power to make. He chose to fight to live!”

Jimeno’s recovery was difficult, testing his very being, and, once again, he faced a choice. Jimeno decided to heal and walk again.

Jimeno’s enduring message is summed up in a passage from his children’s book: “Today, as we face new problems, we hold the same belief. No matter where we come from, we are all members of the same American family, standing by to help each other meet new challenges, united, with bravery and love.” 

Bobby Egbert

Bobby Egbert

Bobby Egbert is a retired Port Authority police officer, a 9/11 first responder veteran and the public information officer for the Port Authority Police Benevolent Association.

View articles by Bobby Egbert

As seen in the September 2021 issue of American Police Beat magazine.
Don’t miss out on another issue today! Click below:

SUBSCRIBE TODAY!

Categories: On the Job

Primary Sidebar

Recent Articles

  • Michigan police officer and bystanders hailed as heroes after rescuing victims in fiery car crash
  • LAPD “accidentally” leaks personal information of undercover officers to watch-dog group
  • Florida police officers recount heroic rescue of 3-year-old boy trapped in sinking car
  • Semi-truck collides with South Dakota police cruiser during winter storm
  • Florida 9-1-1 dispatcher guides family member through CPR after toddler almost drowns
  • NYPD officer rappels down skyscraper to save man from jumping to his death
  • New Jersey girl supports first responders through Running 4 Heroes program
  • Indiana K-9 unit recognized with national Medal of Valor
  • “I thank God for putting us at the right place at the right time”: Wisconsin police officers save choking child
  • National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund Announces February 2023 Officer of the Month

Footer

Our Mission
To serve as a trusted voice of the nation’s law enforcement community, providing informative, entertaining and inspiring content on interesting and engaging topics affecting peace officers today.

Contact us: info@apbweb.com | (800) 234-0056.

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram

Categories

  • Editor’s Picks
  • On the Job
  • Labor
  • Tech
  • Training
  • Policy
  • Health/Wellness
  • Community
  • Offbeat
  • We Remember
  • Jobs and Careers
  • Events

Editor’s Picks

The power of teamwork

The power of teamwork

July 23, 2021

Stay awake and alert on the job

Stay awake and alert on the job

July 20, 2021

The worst rank in law enforcement

The worst rank in law enforcement

July 19, 2021

Firearms maintenance

Firearms maintenance

July 04, 2021

Privacy Policy | Your Privacy Options | Notice at Collection | Copyright © 2023 APB Media, LLC | Website design, development and maintenance by 911MEDIA

Open

Subscribe

Close

Receive the latest news and updates from American Police Beat directly to your inbox!

  • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.