(Seguin) — The Seguin PD Family now can breath a sigh of relief after their brother in blue has made it back home safe and sound.
A team of officers gathered to welcome Patrol Sgt. Bradlee Flippin back home on Tuesday. Flippin spent the last couple of days in a San Antonio hospital after being shot during a domestic disturbance at a local home early Sunday morning.
Rusty Suarez, assistant chief of police for the Seguin Police Department, says the last few days have no doubt been both eventful and emotional. He says the city is just proud to welcome the brave officer back home.
“It’s just a flood of emotions just seeing his emotional reaction to what we were putting together and just having him actually make the drive home coming back to us in one piece. Unfortunately, he did suffer some injuries. However, having him here is what counts and we couldn’t be more blessed. He truly had someone looking over him that night,” said Suarez.
Although he did suffer a few injuries, Suarez says he’s happy to report that Flippin’s sense of humor is still intact.
“What’s funny is he actually made the comment ‘hey, I’m going to come in and row’ because we have our mandatory fitness every year come October and he made that comment and you can’t help but just laugh because he does have that sense of humor going and he’s doing the best that he can and trying to look at the upside of everything. We are happy to see him in good spirits,” said Suarez.
Suarez says he’s not surprised by Flippin’s determination to get back to work. He says the entire department is just grateful.
“He will not take a rest day. He actually contacted our HR department and said ‘hey, can I use my primary care physician to start rehab?’ And, they said, ‘if you choose to’ and so he’s scheduling something already and trying to get going on that so he’s biting at the bits to come back. We are telling him, ‘hey, take a little bit. Get some rest, recover and he’s trying to get back as fast as he can. That’s the type of person he is and the type of employee that we have here at the department. He’s ready and anxious. So, he wants to get back,” said Suarez.
Flippin, who has been employed with the Seguin PD since December 2008, was shot during the domestic disturbance call around 2:30 Sunday morning at a home located in the 600 block of Rosemary Street. When they arrived, they found 57-year old Rodney Juarez still armed with a weapon. They attempted to verbally engage him, and that’s when he fired at Sgt. Flippin. Flippin sustained gunshot wound injuries to the arms, neck,and head areas. According to reports, he also fired and struck a woman and an elementary aged boy at the home. Both were taken to an area hospital for what were again described as non-life threatening injuries.
The charges against Juarez have been upgraded to attempted capital murder of a police officer. Juarez is also charged with attempted capital murder and attempted murder for the woman and child that were also shot.
Juarez remains in custody at the Guadalupe County Jail in lieu of bonds totaling $3 million.The shooting incident remains under investigation by the Seguin PD Criminal Investigation Division and the Texas Rangers.