Officer Daniel Clark, shot last month by a man who killed his fellow officer and friend Mickey Hutchens, isn't a skilled public speaker. But yesterday he fielded questions from reporters for more than 30 minutes, talking softly but powerfully about his devotion to the memory of Sgt. Hutchens and his gratitude for an outpouring of community support. That support was well-deserved.
Clark referred to the New Testament passage from the book of John about there being no greater love than to lay down one's life for friends. "I wish he (Hutchens) could be here," Clark, 28, said to a rapt audience of reporters and fellow officers packed into a room at the police department. "God called him home."
On Oct. 9, Hutchens was leading a footrace in pursuit of Monte Denard Evans. The officers were responding to a domestic disturbance call. Evans had just fled the Bojangles' restaurant on Peters Creek Parkway where his ex-wife worked. He was killed after opening fire on Hutchens, Clark and a third officer who was not hit -- a transfer from another police department who was being trained. If not for the officers' courage, Evans might well have injured or killed his ex-wife or other civilians.
Many in the community prayed for the officers -- in churches, at vigils and on the Internet. Hutchens died Oct. 12. Flags throughout the city flew at half-staff. Many gave blood in his honor and filled Wait Chapel for his funeral.
Chief Scott Cunningham said yesterday that the department, within the next several days, will release the results of its internal investigation of the shooting.
Yesterday, Clark, an Army veteran who on Friday had the bullet removed from him, talked about the shooting's aftermath. At Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center, he got to see Hutchens before he died. He's thankful for that, he said, but Hutchens' death was "devastating."
"Devastating" was a word that Clark used several times yesterday, his voice sometimes cracking.
He was hit in the right ear and the bullet lodged in the left side of his neck, barely missing his carotid artery. A bulletproof vest stopped another shot to his chest. "It's not everyday that you have to look upon your own mortality," he said. After being released from the hospital, he made his way to his friend's packed funeral. "He was a great leader," Clark said of Hutchens. "He would never ask anything of anybody that he wouldn't do himself."
The community support comforted him, he said, as did support from his family and Cunningham, who was by his side at the hospital. The chief, standing by Clark at the press conference, said that "It's still very difficult to talk about Mickey."
"Unfortunately, this department has experienced too much death in its ranks," he said. Seventeen city police officers have died in the line of duty since 1895.
Cunningham noted that Clark is "a quiet gentleman not thrilled by the spotlight." The chief thanked him for his actions on the day of the shooting, and thanked the Hutchens family for Sgt. Hutchens' sacrifice.
He reiterated that the community has united in its outpouring of support for the Hutchens and Clark families, as well as the department.
Clark paid tribute to Hutchens' family, as well as his own. He and his wife are expecting a baby in the spring. He downplayed depictions of himself as a hero. He's thankful for the words, he said, but he had good training and was just doing what he's supposed to do -- protect citizens.
There's a popping and cracking sound in his ear, he said, but doctors think that will go away. Once he completes his recovery, he plans to return to duty. "I'm not sure how my emotions will be when I come back. This will be a hurdle for me, but I will get past it … I have a lot of faith."
And many in the Twin City will be behind him. They have a lot of faith in Daniel Clark.
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