{"id":9410,"date":"2017-02-03T07:53:02","date_gmt":"2017-02-03T15:53:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.taraval.org\/?p=9410"},"modified":"2017-02-06T14:07:40","modified_gmt":"2017-02-06T22:07:40","slug":"abc7-news-sfpd-exclusive-sfpd-officer-shot-in-head-makes-miraculous-recovery","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.taraval.org\/?p=9410","title":{"rendered":"abc7 News &#8211; SFPD EXCLUSIVE: SFPD OFFICER SHOT IN HEAD MAKES MIRACULOUS RECOVERY"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">An interview\u00a0by ABC7 Vic Lee to\u00a0Officer\u00a0Kevin Downs about\u00a0his &#8220;Miraculous Recovery&#8221;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.taraval.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/header-small.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-9412\" src=\"http:\/\/www.taraval.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/header-small.png\" alt=\"abc 7 logo\" width=\"60\" height=\"60\" \/><\/a><span style=\"color: #000000;\">News<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"color: #000000;\"> By Vic Lee<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"color: #000000;\">Friday, February 03, 2017 12:13AM<\/span><\/p>\n<p>http:\/\/abc7news.com\/news\/injured-sf-officer-makes-miraculous-recovery\/1734476\/<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"http:\/\/abc7news.com\/video\/embed\/?pid=1735213\" width=\"476\" height=\"267\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><br \/>\n<span style=\"color: #000000;\">SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) &#8212; A San Francisco police officer narrowly escaped death in the line of duty. Officer Kevin Downs was shot in the head last October while responding to a 911 call in the Taraval District.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #808080;\">RELATED: San Francisco police officer shot in head narrowly escapes fatal injury (http:\/\/abc7news.com\/news\/san-francisco-police-officer-shot-in-head-narrowly-escapes-fatal-injury\/1556709\/)<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">On a warm, tranquil day, Downs and his wife Corey enjoy a pleasant walk in their North Bay neighborhood, something he could not do just months ago.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">&#8220;I&#8217;m doing well,&#8221; Downs exclusively told ABC7 News. &#8220;The mobility is that.&#8221;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Not only is the 25-year-old officer almost fully recovered today, Downs is at peace with what happened last fall.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">The night of Oct. 14, a 406 call went out over police scanners. It&#8217;s the call that every cop fears, 406, officer down.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">&#8220;406 makes your heart skip a beat,&#8221; said Downs. &#8220;When you hear 406 you never know how bad it is.&#8221;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">On this night, it was Downs partner making that call when he was shot in the head. When asked if he remembered Downs replied, &#8220;Oh, I remember everything.&#8221;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #808080;\">RELATED: SFPD reveals photo of gun used in shooting of officer (http:\/\/abc7news.com\/news\/sfpd-reveals-photo-of-gun-used-in-shooting-of-officer\/1566008\/)<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Downs was one of several officers responding to a 911 call at Lakeshore Plaza. A man who appeared to be mentally disturbed was causing trouble at a store. He was later identified as Nicholas McWherter.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">He says McWherter took off running. A short chase ensued. Downs exited his patrol car and the suspect was about 10 feet away.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">&#8220;It was so dark and it happened so quick,&#8221; recalled Downs. &#8220;I didn&#8217;t see him pull his arm up and as he ran by me he fired three shots.&#8221;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">One of them struck Downs in the head. When asked what his immediate reaction was Downs replied, &#8220;It was, &#8216;Why did he just do that? That&#8217;s not fair.&#8217; I was just going to tackle him.&#8221;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Police cornered McWerter near Stern Grove where he was shot and mortally wounded. Downs was rushed to San Francisco General Hospital where he spent six days in intensive care. He was lucky to be alive.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Downs&#8217; doctor said the bullet narrowly missed a major artery in his brain by one centimeter, the diameter of a fingertip. &#8220;He said if it hit there, it would have only been a couple of minutes,&#8221; he said.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">The head wound affected his motor skills. &#8220;I had no movement of my right leg at all,&#8221; Downs told ABC7 News. &#8220;The right arm was very clumsy.&#8221;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">He now has a titanium plate over his skull and has gone through a long rehab. &#8220;There was definitely somebody with a greater power watching me that night,&#8221; Downs said. &#8220;I&#8217;m glad it was me who was shot. I wouldn&#8217;t have wanted to see my brothers in that position.&#8221;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Downs&#8217; recovery has been remarkable. he&#8217;s back working with his non-profit, Ranchin Vets, which he and his wife started in college to help veterans cope with civilian life.&#8217;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">He even helped swear in Police Union President Marty Halloran, who supported him through his recovery. &#8220;My ultimate goal is to return back to full duty and return back to the streets,&#8221; Downs added.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #808080;\">RELATED: Man accused of shooting SFPD officer may have had mental issues (http:\/\/abc7news.com\/news\/man-accused-of-shooting-sfpd-officer-may-have-had-mental-issues\/1560006\/)<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">He feels like he&#8217;s almost there, maybe as soon as spring.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>An interview\u00a0by ABC7 Vic Lee to\u00a0Officer\u00a0Kevin Downs about\u00a0his &#8220;Miraculous Recovery&#8221; News By Vic Lee Friday, February 03, 2017 12:13AM http:\/\/abc7news.com\/news\/injured-sf-officer-makes-miraculous-recovery\/1734476\/ SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) &#8212; A San Francisco police officer narrowly escaped death in the line of duty. Officer Kevin Downs&hellip; <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[33],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9410","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news-2"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.taraval.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9410","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.taraval.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.taraval.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.taraval.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.taraval.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=9410"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/www.taraval.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9410\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9421,"href":"https:\/\/www.taraval.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9410\/revisions\/9421"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.taraval.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=9410"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.taraval.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=9410"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.taraval.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=9410"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}