Former Valley police officer continues Ukrainian aid by shuttling refugees

PHOENIX — The former Valley police officer who has been helping Ukrainians in Europe continues to aid those in need by shuttling refugees to safety.

Pat Shearer said he witnessed a missile attack Thursday while he was shuttling three passengers from a war zone in eastern Ukraine to the city of Lviv.

“I thought I heard the sirens, the air raid sirens go off,” Shearer told KTAR News 92.3 FM’s Arizona’s Morning News on Friday.

“I rolled down the window to just confirm that’s what it was. And all of a sudden, I heard a boom of some sort. I looked up right in front of me and out comes this just billowing black smoke. The black, darkest smoke you could ever see comes out from between these two buildings. It looked like apartment complexes over there. But I honestly, I don’t know what it was.”

Shearer was taking the three passengers away from that part of the country and stayed with them in a shelter overnight.

This trip, one of passengers spoke English, but some of the time he will have to communicate through a translator app or a friend who speaks both languages.

The former Peoria officer has been working with college students from Lviv University of Polytechnics.

He said in March he felt compelled to help because he “fell in love with the country, fell in love with the people,” when he visited a year ago.

The Strawberry, Arizona, resident said he has been mostly shuttling women and children in need of shelter.

Anybody wanting to contribute to Shearer’s cause can make donations through the Arizona Legislative Chaplaincy website.