PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. — Port St. Lucie police sergeant returns to work six months after being shot in the face on duty Sgt. Erik Levasseur was shot twice responding to a domestic call, once in the eye and once through his jaw and neck. He was released from the hospital 37 days later.
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A Port St. Lucie police sergeant is back on the job nearly six months after being shot in the face with an AK-47 while responding to a domestic call.
Levasseur was shot twice on December 1. The first shot hit his rifle scope, sending shrapnel into both eyes. The second shot went through his jaw and out his neck.
"December 1, I responded to a domestic call and I was shot in the face with an AK-47," La Vassar said.
Levasseur said the morning started as a normal shift, he had even signed up for overtime.
"The morning was my normal shift. I'd actually signed up for overtime that night and then we got the call for the domestic, and I was a supervisor on scene. We didn't know at the time that he was armed with an AK," Levasseur said.
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The injuries were severe. Levasseur said he even spit out a tooth at the scene.
"His first shot hit my rifle scope. Most of the shrapnel went into my right eye. Some shrapnel went into my left. A big part of the actual scope went into my face. The second shot went right through, right here in my face, took out my jaw, and blew out the hole of my neck," La Vassar said.
"I ended up spitting out a tooth on scene. I was kind of hoping it was a wisdom tooth, but it wasn't," Levasseur said.
Unable to speak due to a tracheotomy, Levasseur asked for something to write with and began passing notes to his wife.
"I had a tracheon, so I asked for something to write with. So, I started writing notes to my wife. I asked my wife, are my guys OK? And then I asked is this bad guy down. And I asked her, are my eyes intact? And then she's like, yeah," Levasseur said. "I was like, well, I figured if they're intact, they can be fixed. And then I asked her, am I dying? And she said, no. I said, no BS. She said, nope, no BS. You're not dying."
"At that point when I realized, OK, if I'm not dying, everything's good, you know, it's time. I need to let her know that I'm OK, you know, and so I made a little joke. I said, am I still bald?" Levasseur said.
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Levasseur said his wife's presence and strength were critical to his recovery.
"If she wasn't there, I don't think I would have been out of there as quick as I was. Her strength, you know, was overpowering. So, I worked hard to make sure that I was getting better for her," Levasseur said. "I cannot say anything about the love I have for my wife. Because there's no limit to it."
Levasseur was released from the hospital 37 days after he was shot.
Returning to the department, Levasseur said he made a point to personally address each of the officers who responded that night.
"I went down the line with each of the guys, and I'm proud to say every single one of them did their jobs," Levasseur said. "They did exactly what they're supposed to do. No one, if anything happened differently, I could have died."
He said that reassurance mattered deeply to his fellow officers.
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"Reassurance in themselves. And that they actually did what they're supposed to do, realizing that they did their jobs correctly," Levasseur said.
Now back inside the department for the first time in nearly six months, Levasseur said the experience has given him something to share with the officers he leads.
"Having not been here for going on six months now, it's kind of rough," Levasseur said. "I have a story to tell with this incident and this injury and the fact that I'm still standing right here, you know, that's something that these guys need to learn to live with and understand. You can get hurt. You can stand up and you come back in here and stand tall."
Levasseur said the job, and the people in it, are something he has deeply missed.
"I miss this place. I really do. The friendships, camaraderie, everything you have in here. You don't get paid for what you actually do, you get paid for what you may have to do," Levasseur said.
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