Simpson County Detective Eddie Lawson is someone everyone in Franklin, Kentucky seems to know.
"We're close and we're like family," said Simpson County Sheriff Jere Hopson, "big bubbling personality, (he) likes to kid around a lot."
Hopson said he was third on the scene when Lawson was shot Thursday by 28-year-old Ben Wyatt III, who had outstanding warrants and did not want to go to jail. Lawson was just six months from retirement at the time.
And Hopson wasn't sure he'd ever see his friend of twenty years again.
"He was losing a lot of blood and you've got great concern," he recalled, "we were in there doing some first aid, my chief deputy had pressure on the wound."
The Sheriff credits Lawson's training and a well-placed tree for saving the detective's life. Hopson said when Wyatt resisted arrest, Det. Lawson pulled out his pepper spray and Wyatt pulled out a gun.
The Sheriff said another deputy was just down the street and on his way to assist Lawson with the initial arrest.
The detective was shot twice but took cover behind the tree. Hopson said Lawson's gun was jammed so he had to do a tactical reload before firing off a shot and hitting Wyatt in the arm. That's when state police said Wyatt ran off.
But his shots had already hit Lawson: one in the pelvis and another shattered his femur.
Bad weather grounded an emergency chopper from flying him to the hospital. So Lawson's ambulance rushed to Tristar Skyline in Nashville on the ground, gaining escorts from Metro Police and the Tennessee Highway Patrol when it crossed the border into the Volunteer State.
"Nashville Metro kept officers there for about a day and a half just trying to help the family," Sheriff Hopson said, "until you've been through one of those circumstances you don't realize how much you appreciate something like that."
As Lawson recovers, Wyatt sits in the Simpson County Jail on a $500,000 bond for attempted murder of a police officer. He has a history with the department. The Sheriff said he's dealt with him personally and that Wyatt has an obvious mental illness.
"You can be mentally ill and still know the difference between right and wrong. He knows the difference in right and wrong," Hopson said.
Simpson County is just glad the charges are for attempted, rather than full-fledged murder.
With so many people asking how they can help Det. Lawson, the Sheriff's Office set up a Go Fund Me Page for him.
