A mother and her son returned home from church to find their home burglarized. Among the items stolen were the mother’s jewelry and the boy’s Xbox. Police officers at the scene learned that the family did not have many possessions, and with Christmas around the corner, the officers decided to do something special for the boy.
In November 2015, Memphis police officers responded to a burglary call at the home of an 11-year-old Tontrevion Campbell and his mother. The robbers stole a few items belonging to the mother but also took Tontrevion’s hand-me-down Xbox and all the games he owned.
The officers were touched and impressed that Tontrevion showed more concern about his mother’s welfare than his own needs, so a few officers got together and decided to help Tontrevion in some way.
Officer Jerry Graves and Officer Antonio Martin then took time between work calls and went to GameStop, where they purchased a brand-new Xbox and three games for Tontrevion. Upon hearing the story about why the officers were purchasing the items, the store clerk asked to split the bill with them. GameStop management also donated an extra controller.
When the officers returned to Tontrevion’s home, they asked him to check if the Xbox was his.
“No, sir….mine was older,” Tontrevion said as he continued to look through the bag and at the games.
One of the officers also shared that they tried to get him some games that weren’t too violent. And that’s when Tontrevion and his mother realized it was actually for him.
“Thank you!” Tontrevion quickly shouted and went to give each officer a hug.
Tontrevion and his mom were moved to tears. “I’m truly grateful for the generosity that was given to my son,” the mom shared on WMC Action News 5 Facebook page.
Officer Antonio Martin said he was happy to help the boy and the family.
“Policing, it’s not really just about going into dangerous situations,” Officer Martin added. “It’s definitely about helping out the community as well.”
The post that was shared by the Memphis Police Department went viral garnering some 17,000 reactions. Some social media users took to praise the efforts of these kindhearted officers.
One social media user wrote: “Just brought tears to my eyes. So glad to see and hear that people DO CARE about others. This is what GOD expect from us. LOVE AND KINDNESS! Shouts out to the officers and Game Stop..”
While another wrote, “This story is a tear jerker. There are some good officers out there. This is just one of many.”
With their kind gesture, these officers helped to make Tontrevion and his mother’s life a little better. They went above the call of their duty to be kind to someone in need.
