Video: Injured Deputy Has Emotional Reaction to Community Support

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COLUMBUS, Miss. (WCBI) — “I’m doing much better than what I was a few weeks ago. Going through therapy, making good progress,” said Lt. Clint Sims.

Using crutches and still recovering from gunshot wounds to his leg, Lt. Clint Sims is slowly recovering. It was nearly 3 weeks ago when Sims, along with Lt. Larry Swearingen were shot after family members requested that law enforcement check on Kenneth Coscia at his home in the Drake Circle community. Sims was standing near the doorway when Coscia allegedly opened fire with a high-powered weapon.

“When they were pulling me away, I was hit. I knew I was hit. My concern was this person had shot me and another deputy. I didn’t want anyone else harmed. In our line of work we have brothers and sisters and it’s just a few of us so, we take care of our own,” said Lt. Sims.

From the time he was shot, to his first day back home, those brothers and sisters were by his side. Both Sims and Swearingen also help train many of their deputies. Their very last practice could’ve very well saved his life.

“At our last practice, we were standing around, we had already done what we had planned to do that day and we had some time left over and somebody said, ‘What else can we do?’ And just out of the blue I said ‘Well we haven’t done officer down drills in a while, let’s do officer down drills and so at our last practice that’s what we did to finish the day out. Not knowing less than a week later we’d be doing it we’d be doing it in a real life event,” said Lt. Sims.

The love and support he’s also gotten from neighbors and strangers is almost too much for words.

” The community has been very supportive of us and I just can’t thank them enough,” said Lt. Sims.

And he’d like to say this to all of those that changed his life that fateful day.

“To the deputies that were there… thank you. Ya’ll mean the world to me. To the dispatchers who were not on scene but got us the help there, thank you. To the ambulance personnel thank ya’ll for getting us to the hospital. And to the community, thank you for your support,” said Lt. Sims.

Lt. Sims says he’s making a lot of progress and hopes to be back at work in the next few weeks.