COLUMBIA (WACH) - A Richland County deputy, whose life was saved by a bulletproof vest, spoke about the experience for the first time Tuesday afternoon.
Deputy Sheila Aull was shot by Adam Jurgen, 24, in a standoff in the St. Andrews area of Richland County last Tuesday.
Deputies say Jurgen was fighting with a woman around 1:30 p.m. at a CVS pharmacy on Broad River Road. The woman was taken to a local hospital. Jurgen left the store on foot.
Richland County deputies searched for Jurgen and cornered him a the Farrington Apartments. He shot at deputies several times before he was killed by gunfire.
Aull was the first officer to arrive on scene, and while chasing Jurgen, she was shot in the chest; her bulletproof vest saved her life.
"It's like a sixth sense there was something different about that call," said Aull.
Aull says she was struck in the chest, but she wasn't sure if she was hit or grazed. She describes the feeling as something similar to a bee sting. Once she realized she was hit, stopping her was not an option.
"I returned fire, he was continuing to flee away from me as he was shooting with his arm extended behind him with hands to the side; kin of like a gangster style," said Aull.
Deputies returned fire bringing Jurgen down near the building next door.
"I felt like a pitbull on a chain suddenly wanting to go...to go get the person that was just trying to hurt me," said Aull.
Aull says once the suspect was down, she grabbed her chest and deputies asked if she was hit.
"I told them it feels like a bee sting, and that's when, you know, all of a sudden it was like a swarm of law enforcement surrounding me; almost like angels all the way around me," said Aull.
Aull is already back at work; she returned on Friday.
(Drew Stewart contributed to this report.)
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