LANSING, Mich. (WLNS) — Lansing Police Officer Caitlin Markey is again on the street, cleared for full-time obligation one yr after being shot throughout a visitors cease.
She says she’s glad to be again patrolling the capital metropolis after her worst day on the job.
“You meet people on their worst day, so I want that to be like a little sliver of like- this was the good out of my worst day,” mentioned Markey.
LPD Officer Caitlin Markey. (WLNS)
On April 10, 2024, lower than a yr and a half into her job with LPD, Markey and her associate stopped and tried to arrest 29-year-old Andrial Ortiz, who was suspected of being concerned in a violent crime days earlier.
Andrial Ched Ortiz reserving {photograph} (Photograph: MDOC)
“My partner tells me to put handcuffs on him, tell him to put his hands behind his back, and that’s when he starts fighting,” mentioned Markey. “I mean, I’ve been in countless fights, and nothing ever like this one. That guy was strong.”
Two LPD detectives had arrived on the scene and have been additionally attempting to restrain him. The wrestle reached a degree the place Markey determined to make use of her taser, however regardless of that, Ortiz continued to withstand the officers and was in a position to get his arms on each of the detectives’ weapons.
“Someone said he had a gun. I don’t remember hearing that,” mentioned Markey. “And then I looked. I like, looked down at my ankle for a second, and I saw, like, the tiniest drop of blood. I was like, ‘Crap, it hit me.'”
Stills from bodycam footage of the incident.
Stills from bodycam footage of the incident.
Injured, she went to a patrol automotive to name for assist.
“Once I got myself together, he still had the gun, and so I hobbled over there, took it from him, and I was just praying that people were coming quick,” mentioned Markey. “And I remember thinking, okay, like I got to do something for myself. Grab my tourniquet, throw it on. Probably within, like, 2 seconds of that, I hear the sirens, I hear people coming up, and I was like, ‘Oh, thank God.'”
Markey was shot within the leg proper above her ankle.
Markey was shot within the leg proper above her ankle. (WLNS)
“The doctors were worried that, well, they said if actually it went like an inch or two lower into my ankle, it would have messed my foot up so bad, I wouldn’t have been able to come back,” mentioned Markey.
Her street to restoration wasn’t straightforward, involving three separate surgical procedures, together with knee surgical procedure, a number of issues, and a whole lot of hours of bodily remedy.
“I know as police officers that we are resilient, but then there’s a certain group of people that just have that, that extra element to them that you know not only are they going to recover, but they’re going to be successful,” mentioned Lansing Police Chief Robert Backus. “They’re going to thrive even with the type of incident that they’ve been through, and that’s Caitlin.”
Her street to restoration wasn’t straightforward, involving three separate surgical procedures, together with knee surgical procedure, a number of issues, and a whole lot of hours of bodily remedy. (WLNS)
After this encounter, Markey says she’s a bit extra cautious as of late and could be very grateful for the months she spent on the police academy.
“Training is so important. Looking back, I want to like, go tell everyone that goes to the Academy or wants to be a police officer, like, you have to train,” mentioned Markey.
Police say one other officer was grazed within the leg by a bullet fired by Ortiz, and an LPD officer returned fireplace, capturing him within the leg. Ortiz is in jail and has been indicted in federal courtroom for being a felon in possession of firearms.
His case continues to be pending.
