Scott honored

The Duncan Banner

DUNCAN Fri, May 16 2008

— District Attorney Investigator Justin Scott was one of nine Oklahoma law enforcement officers to be honored by the state Legislature March 24 at the state Capitol.
The men were recognized for heroic actions displayed June 18, 2007, while executing a high-risk search warrant at an apartment complex in Lawton.
“We participated in the search warrant in an assistant role,” Scott said. “When we walked up the stairs and knocked on the door, gunfire came through the door at us and injured two officers. We were somewhat able to see where the shots came from and returned fire.”
According to a press release about the event, the suspect was fatally wounded and one of the officers he shot was paralyzed from the waist down, while the other officer shot had wounds to the hand and cheekbone from which he has fully recovered.
“This was unfortunate for everyone,” Scott said.
“The choices that man made had life-changing effects on everybody involved, his family and the officers there. In this line of work, you do what you can to save lives.”
Scott said that law enforcement officers practice constantly for the worst-case scenarios in case it becomes a reality, but it still isn’t enough.
“This was my first shootout,” Scott said.
“If you had told me a week before the shootout that I was going to be in one, I still would not have been prepared for it. All the preparation in the world can’t touch the reality of that event.”
The press release quoted the Legislature as saying that the officers’ instinctive actions in the face of deadly circumstances prevented their injured partners from further harm and successfully neutralized a serious threat to public safety.
According to the press release, 17 weapons, surveillance equipment, methamphetamine and drug paraphernalia were recovered from the shooter’s residence and vehicle.