RICHMOND, Va. -- Richmond Police Officer William Turner said he planned to go back to work once he has fully healed from his wounds. Turner was shot in the stomach January 2 after he responded to a report of a man suffering from emotional issues in Richmond’s Fulton neighborhood. Another bullet grazed Turner’s head.
The man, 20-year-old suspect Tamar X. Harris, has been charged with attempted capital murder of a police officers and use of a firearm in the commission of a felony. He is due in court in March. In the days and weeks following the shooting, the community organized prayer vigils and fundraisers for the injured officer.
"I never expected all this outpouring, I never did," Turner said in a video produced and released by the Richmond Police Department. "I'm grateful for it. And I will always be thankful." Turner was released from VCU Medical Center on January 16, two weeks after he was shot.
"I would like to thank the the whole community, everybody who prayed. We still need your prayers because I'm not at the end of it yet. I still have one more visit at the hospital to go through," Turner said.
Turner's wife Patricia echoed her husband's sentiments.
"You just heard people saying I had this group prayer, I had this church prayer, I had my family members praying. People were praying all over, not only here in the city of Richmond, but all over the place," Patricia Turner said. "We had an outpouring of cards. They were just coming from everywhere. The neighbors, the kids' schools."
Officer Turner said he read each and every card while he recovered from his injuries. He said he planned to keep all of the cards and re-read them every year.
As for his plan to return to the police force?
"I just have to wait for time to go by to heal the wounds," he said. "I plan to come back."
His wife did not seem excited about that plan.
"And this is why we pray," she sighed.
