17-year-old girl honored for applying tourniquet to officer shot in the line of duty

A 17-year-old girl has been honored by a Missouri sheriff's office after they say she stopped at the scene of a shooting to apply a tourniquet to an injured police officer.

Ava Donegan and a friend had been shopping in Excelsior Springs on Oct. 1 when, while stopped in their car at an intersection, they heard gunshots, the Clay County Sheriff's Office said.

Excelsior Springs police officer Andrew Stott was shot in the arm and hand at that busy intersection, and he ran to Donegan's car for help, the sheriff's office said.

Donegan told ABC News she had ducked when she heard the gunshots, and when she sat up, Stott was by her driver's side door.

She said her "instincts kicked in and I got out and helped."

Stott pointed out where his tourniquet was, and Donegan applied it for him and helped him take off his outer vest, according to the sheriff's office.

The injured officer also couldn't hold his radio so the 17-year-old pressed the button for him so he could communicate with dispatch, the sheriff's office said.

After Stott was attacked, another officer shot the 65-year-old suspected gunman, who died from his injuries, the sheriff's office said.

Stott, just 23 years old, got married one week before he was shot, Excelsior Springs police chief Gregory Dull told ABC News.

The officer has undergone multiple surgeries and has not yet returned to duty, according to the sheriff's office. Dull said Stott has a "long road of recovery ahead of him."

The teen's father, Devin Donegan, who teaches new nurses at a local hospital's ICU, told ABC News he showed his daughter how to use a tourniquet several years ago.

The 17-year-old keeps a first-aid kit and tourniquet in her car, so she said even if the officer didn't have one, she was prepared.

"If you can know how to use one, or if you know how to put pressure on a wound to stop bleeding, you can save a life," she said.

At a ceremony on Thursday evening, Clay County Sheriff Will Akin presented Ava Donegan with a certificate of recognition, while Excelsior Springs Mayor Sharon Powell offered her a scholarship.

"What an incredible thing you did without regard for your own safety," the mayor said at the ceremony.

"Pretty amazing that she would get out to help," the police chief told ABC News.

Ava Donegan said the ceremony was "emotional," adding, "I was very thankful for all the gratitude."

The high school senior said she hopes to pursue a career in medicine, possibly physical therapy.