El Paso County deputy wounded in deadly shootout is back at work
COLOR A DO S PRING S » An El Paso County sheriff’s deputy who was wounded seriously in a deadly shootout in February has returned to work, although his injuries limit him to desk work.
Deputy Scott Stone has been conducting background checks since returning to the office on Nov. 8.
Stone was shot in the abdomen Feb. 5 as he and other officers tried to arrest a suspected car thief in Colorado Springs. Deputy Micah Flick was killed, along with the suspect, Manuel Zetina.
Two other officers and a passer-by were injured. The passer-by, Thomas Villanueva, was partially paralyzed.
Stone said the bullet that struck him is still inside his body and complications have limited his range of motion and caused other problems. He says he still hopes to return to patrol but that could take a year or longer.
“Knowing I’m not on patrol is tough, but it gets me through because I know I still have a job; I’m still a sworn peace officer,” Stone said, crediting
Sheriff Bill Elder for making him feel like part of the team again. “I was willing to do whatever for that.”
Stone said he struggles with mental trauma from the shooting and from the death of Flick, who was a friend.
“I still think about and relive a lot of what happened that day,” Stone said.
But Stone can still joke about being allowed to wear jeans to work on casual days and the time he had to explain to Transportation Safety Administration officers at an airport why he was setting off a metal detector.
“They rubbed wipes all over me to make sure I had no bomb material on me, and I’m telling them, ‘It’s just a bullet,’ ” Stone recalled with a laugh.
“I was like, ‘No, you can’t see it, and no, it’s not in a place where you can feel it.’ ”
Despite the injury and the memories, Stone said he and his family have reasons to celebrate. His wife learned she was pregnant two weeks after Stone was shot, and she recently gave birth to a daughter.