Published: June 07, 2008 07:44 am            

Clark Sheriff’s officer talks about shooting

Mark Meyer says he still loves his job

For the first time since he was shot in the head, arm and shoulder, Clark County Sheriff’s Department officer Mark Meyer spoke about the ordeal.

Mark and his wife, Mariah, told WLKY-TV in Louisville the night started like any other. He kissed her goodbye and headed out the door, but not an hour later and half-mile from their house, the night became far from ordinary.

Mark and two other officers were responding to a domestic complaint in April when they were ambushed.

Mark, 27, was shot by Douglas Damon Frakes Jr., 33, while responding to a domestic dispute in New Washington. Frakes later killed himself with the gun.

“I knew this wasn’t how I was going out,” Mark said. “I knew my right arm had been hit ... because it went numb. I knew I was hit in the face because I could feel the blood.

“I had blood coming down quite a bit.”

He said he remembers almost everything, including how he used his car door as a shield, climbed into the driver’s seat and called for help.

“Just to stay conscious, keep myself calm. I could tell my airway was getting narrow, and it was getting tougher and tougher to breathe,” he told WLKY.

Mark gets choked up remembering his ride on the helicopter, hearing people say they only had 10 minutes to get him to University Hospital in Louisville.

“I opened the door and I see lights everywhere,” said Mariah. “I hear the sirens and I could hear STAT flight going over the house.”

After hours of waiting, Mariah saw Mark for the first time after surgery.

“He didn’t look as bad as I was anticipating, but it was good to see him,” she said. “He wasn’t able to talk, but he could blink his eyes and make some motion, so he knew we were there.”The couple is now finding plenty to smile about, even though his tongue is still swollen, he wears a brace on his wrist and has pins in his right pinky finger.

“It’s going to be different,” he said. “It changes things, the way you think about things a lt. It’s a job I love to do. So I’m definitely going to be back.”

“I probably won’t get any sleep the night he goes back to work, but I know that’s what he wants to do and he wouldn’t be able to do anything else and be happy, and I don’t want to see him unhappy,” Mariah said.

Mark — a five-year veteran of the department and former corrections officer — is expected to make a complete recovery, Clark County Sheriff Danny Rodden told The Evening News and The Tribune last month.

— Reprinted courtesy of WLKY-TV in Louisville

        

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