HAINES CITY, Fla. — A Haines City police officer said he thanks God that he is still alive after he was shot during an arrest on Sunday, July 17.
"God, just get me through this, please, and just let me get home," that's what Officer Dwight Rogers said he was thinking at the time of the shooting. It would be the first time he thought he wouldn't go home to his wife, Ebony.
The 27-year-old Haines City officer was working the night shift when he pulled over Luis Feliciano for driving erratically on Glen Este Boulevard and Highway 27, authorities say.
According to the police department, during the stop, Feliciano refused to turn over his license, registration and insurance information and the officer asked him to get out of the car. Feliciano reportedly refused to do that, too, so Rogers had to physically remove him from the car.
According to the interim chief, Feliciano passively resisted arrest and explained to the officer that he had fresh meats and groceries in his car, so Rogers allowed him to call his girlfriend to pick them up. However, when the girlfriend, Daribel Torres Orozco, arrived with her brother, David Torres Orozco, just after 9 p.m., they reportedly began questioning Rogers and "acting aggressively" toward him and the other officers who had arrived for backup.
A video from that night shows David Torres Orozco attacking Rogers and going for his gun. He was able to wedge his finger in the gun holster and pull the trigger, shooting Rogers.
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"I just remember there, after I got shot, just laying there and just thinking like 'this really happened to me,'" Rogers said. "Is this really happening right now?"
The officer said being shot felt like a blade going through his leg.
"Just a hot blade going slowly through my leg," he said, describing the feeling. "And that sensation muscle spasm, that's what really got the best of me."
Rogers was airlifted to Lakeland Regional Medical Center where he was treated and released five days later.
In the days since returning home, Rogers still can't move his leg. He's taking recovery day by day, he says. The bullet that pierced his skin, is still inside.
"It's a reminder to me that you got shot and you could have died that night," Rogers explained." And it is traumatizing to me to actually feel it and be like, wow, this really did happen. I just thank God that I'm still alive to this day."
The community and Rogers' family are rallying around him. They've set up a GoFundMe to support him during his time away from serving the community.
David Torres Orozco was arrested shortly after the shooting and charged with resisting an officer with violence, aggravated battery on a law enforcement officer and attempted felony murder with a weapon.
Daribel Torres Orozco and Feliciano are both facing charges of resisting arrest without violence.