SHELBY, NC (WBTV) -
Chances are you will never have to face someone with a gun, but law enforcement officers face that possibility every day.
This weekend a special event is being held in Cleveland County to honor and recognize officers who've been through something none of us would ever want to face…being shot.
Tim Elmore was a Cleveland County deputy when he and his partner answered a "suspicious person" call at the Waco Stop and Shop. When Elmore walked around the side of the building, he came face to face with a man holding a gun who, with no warning, began firing and hit Elmore three times. He was grazed on his neck, shot through the shoulder, and shot through the right forearm.
Elmore says "I believe that my adrenaline was pumping so hard, that I didn't even realize that I'd been shot until, like I said, when I saw the blood on the ground."
Elmore recovered and is now a detective with the Shelby Police Department. The man who shot him was later caught and is serving time in prison.
This weekend Elmore will take part in Still Standing, an annual event held in Shelby that recognizes local law enforcement personnel who've been wounded or injured in the line of duty.
Elmore says it was hard for him to talk about being shot, "Cause we're supposed to get the bad guy, you know...and I felt like the bad guy got me."
But after his first Still Standing event, Elmore was able to open up. He says, "It's really beneficial to me...because it helped me to open up and realize, it's okay to have those feelings that you have. It's okay to have those thoughts...because there's some other guys out there like me who can understand. And that was my whole thing, I said, I was thinking nobody understood what I was feeling...nobody understood what I was thinking."
Mark Lee is the organizer of Still Standing. He's a former Shelby police officer who was wounded in the line of duty 20 years ago. He says, "What we really hope to happen is that we share our stories and we provide another officer out on the street the ability to maybe learn from what we did and maybe save a life one day, and that's our ultimate goal is to get the word out there, what we've been through and also not to forget those officers who served many, many years ago."
Cleveland County's top lawmen fully support Still Standing. Shelby Police Chief Jeff Ledford says, "And when you take some of the officers who went through some of the most horrific times that we can imagine...and when they come back to work...it not only helps them get back in the game, but it helps the departments to see their family back together."
Cleveland County Sheriff Alan Norman adds, "They've given almost, as close as you can get, the ultimate sacrifice. As far as I'm concerned, they have given the ultimate sacrifice. And it's something that should never ever be forgotten."
As many as 250 law enforcement personnel and their families are expected at this weekend's event which gets underway at noon at City Park.
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