Wounded Idaho Police Officer Returns to Duty

May 30, 2018
Coeur d'Alene Police Officer Charles Hatley, who was wounded during a shootout three months ago, has returned to duty.

A Coeur d'Alene, Idaho police officer wounded during a shootout three months ago has returned to duty.

Officer Charles Hatley and fellow Officer Taylor Beach responded as backup to a traffic stop initially made by Officer Kelly Mongan on Hattie Avenue near Government Way on Feb. 27 when the altercation occurred, according to The Press.

Mongan served an outstanding warrant for the arrest of on of the vehicle's passengers -- 34-year-old Curtis Bradley Ware. The man became combative and exchanged gunfire with officers, wounding Hatley in the abdomen, before being shot and killed by police.

Hatley, who has fully recovered from his injuries, recalled the shooting.

"I knew going into it something could happen, but you can’t always live on that line," the 30-year-old officer in training told the newspaper. "I think it just made me more aware and gave me a heightened sense of what could happen."

Hatley avoided a more severe injury because the bullet struck his service belt. He underwent surgery at Kootenai Health after being wounded and was released three days later.

He said that the support he and his wife, Michelle — who gave birth to their daughter, Aliyah, in January — has been "phenomenal."

"We'd get contacted multiple times per day just asking if we needed anything," Hatley said. "There was always somebody asking if we needed anything at all. They were always present."

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