Two Charles County, MD, officers are returning to duty nine months after they were shot while responding to a mental health call.
Charles County Sheriff’s Patrolman First Class Andrew Fenlon returned to work last week. Officer Bradley Harris returns to work next month. Both are speaking publicly about the day of the shooting and their road to recovery.
The officers responded to a call at a home in Waldorf for a man with an outstanding warrant. The man’s family didn’t know he had a gun.
"I remember clearly seeing the barrel pointed straight at us," Harris told FOX5, about the day he was shot twice in the leg. "One shot went through breaking my tibia and the bullet got stuck in the bone. The other shot went in and came out the other side of my leg."
Fenlon also was shot multiple times.
"Through my arm and second round to the vest. I went into an office next to his room and returned fire, and I feel like I knew I was hit, but didn’t have any feeling in it yet,” Fenlon said. "Once I actually got in the room, I hit the floor. I couldn’t hear anything. The ringing in my ears had me in somewhat of shock from it all."
Fenlon ran from the home. Harris had to jump out of a second-story window and an officer on the ground stood below him to catch him so he wouldn’t further damage his leg. Both wounded officers were flown to Baltimore Shock Trauma.
In honor of the bulletproof vest that saved his life, Fenlon got a large tattoo near the scar that says, ‘Point Blank Body Armor’ and ‘Wear It For Life.’
The man who shot the two officers died by suicide following the shooting.
