Heflin police Officer Jackie Stovall, shot in the groin during a shootout in Oxford in December, is back in the hospital this week for another surgery related to his injury.
Interim Heflin police Chief Capt. A.J. Benefield said Stovall had been released from the hospital, but was readmitted Saturday.
"He was actually at his son's practice, baseball practice or game, Saturday when the surgeon called him and told him he wanted to come in," Benefield said.
Stovall was shot while providing support to the Cleburne County Sheriff's Department. The department received a call from Romero Roberto Moya's wife on Dec. 15 reporting he was acting violently.
After a shootout on Alabama 9 in Cleburne County, Moya, 33, led police on a chase to Oxford and a second shootout in which Stovall was injured. Moya then stole a car and headed to Anniston. He was killed by police in Coldwater.
Police found Moya's three brothers dead at the Cleburne County trailer park where the family lived. Moya's toddler son was also injured.
Stovall was shot in the groin and the bullet exited through the back of his hip, Benefield said. The wound has not been healing properly, he added.
Stovall's wife, Wanda Stovall, said in a phone interview from the hospital on Monday that the surgery was to deal with an infection in the wound.
According to his wife, Stovall is expected to have surgery today, but was still waiting Monday to hear details from the doctor.
His wife said Stovall and his family are hanging in there.
"We're leaving it in God's hands," she said.
Benefield was unsure when Stovall will be able to return to his job at the Police Department.
Dennis Green, chief investigator for the Cleburne County Sheriff's department, said the 21-month-old boy had to have part of his left arm amputated. But he's been out of the hospital for three or four weeks and is doing fine, Green said.
The family has since moved away from Cleburne County, Green said.
Copyright 2013 - The Anniston Star, Ala.
McClatchy-Tribune News Service
