VIDEO: Exclusive Interview with the Lowndes County Deputy Injured in a Shootout

LOWNDES COUNTY, Miss. (WCBI) – The Lowndes County Deputy injured in a shootout, after a high speed chase two weeks ago, continues his recovery.

Narcotics Agent Kevin Forrester suffered leg injuries after being shot by the chase suspect.

This is the first time the department is speaking out since the tragic situation on March 27th.

Forrester was one of the first responding deputies to the scene, after the high speed chase started in Webster County and ended in Lowndes County.

He says he remembers everything about that day.

Lowndes County Narcotics Agent Kevin Forrester suffered non-life threatening injuries after a bullet entered his left leg, exited, and entered his right leg and lodged behind his knee.

“When it happened, my mind is like, have I been shot? Because it was a pain that I had never felt before. It was on a scale that I had never experienced before,” says Forrester.

This is the first time in Forrester’s 25 year career to be shot.

He says these type of situations make you more cautious, but it doesn’t stop you from wanting to do the job.

“My heart is still there. My compassion for people is still there. My compassion for my job is still there and as long as I’m living and breathing and God allows, then I’ll be right here.”

Lowndes County Chief Deputy Marc Miley is the one who drove the injured deputy to the hospital and even though he was the driver, he’s been in the same back seat Forrester was sitting in that day.

“We can look back on our own experiences and say, ‘hey Kevin, you may feel this in a couple of days. You may be thinking this in a couple of days. Everything is completely normal that you’re going through. Whatever you need, you need to let us know.’ ”

Surrounding law enforcement agencies rallied around the department on and off their shifts and it’s that law enforcement family bond that helped keep the veteran deputy breathing.

“We’re already close. Situations like this will bring you closer even after. I do not even want to think about the alternative. We’re definitely not nine feet tall and bullet proof, but we’re going to be out there yet again, that night, the next day, and we’re going to keep doing what we do,” says Columbus-Lowndes Narcotics Task Force Captain Archie Williams.

The two biggest goals for officers are to serve and protect the public and make sure they make it home after every shift.

“I thank God for my training. I said it before to our training officer, Lt. Jeff Harris, I mean, sometimes you question ‘why do I have to do it this way?’ ‘Why do I have to do it this way?’ I’ll never second guess it again because I’m alive today for that,” says Forrester.

He doesn’t know when he’ll be back out on the job.

This past week, he had his operation follow up and started physical therapy.

Forrester wants to thank God, law enforcement, his doctors, the hospital staff, and the community praying for him.