Wounded NE Ind. officer undergoes major surgery

WATERLOO, Ind. — A northeastern Indiana police officer shot in the face last week has undergone a major surgery and the town’s marshal said he is optimistic about the officer’s recovery.

Waterloo Deputy Marshal Stephen Brady remains hospitalized from the Dec. 15 shooting that police say happened while he was responding to a call about a couple with car trouble.

Town Marshal Jay Oberholtzer said Brady underwent a seven-hour surgery on Wednesday to fix the damage to his jaw and the roof of his mouth.

Brady is aware of his surroundings but can’t speak because of a breathing tube, Oberholtzer said.

“Even when he appears to be in a somewhat sedated state and going through pain he knows exactly what’s going on I think, pretty well every minute,” Oberholtzer told WANE-TV. “I think he’ll have a lot to tell us when he recovers from this.”

The circumstances of the shooting are not yet entirely clear, but about three hours after the attack a nearby resident called police to complain that two people were hiding under his deck.

Police investigating the complaint said 41-year-old Ralph Hardiek pointed a gun at officers and was shot and killed. A woman injured in the shooting — 33-year-old Julie King — remains hospitalized in intensive care, Oberholtzer told The Star of Auburn.

The marshal said Brady’s wife has stopped several times at the police station in the town about 25 miles north of Fort Wayne to pick up cards and messages of support so she can read them to him.

Doctors don’t yet have a timeline for Brady’s recovery.

“He’s going to come through it,” Oberholtzer said. “He’s very determined and I believe in the prayers of not just this community, but many people in the United States and probably elsewhere, and that God will be with him and bring him through this.”