Police officer in Cedar Park returns to work after being shot
CEDAR PARK, Texas - A Cedar Park police officer who was shot in the line of duty is now back on the job. Officer Nik Anderson was one of three officers shot in early August when responding to a call for service.
Anderson was shot in the arm; the bone itself was shattered in 16 different spots. He underwent surgery but says he still only has limited mobility. "It's still about 60/40 chance it will ever actually heal for me to get back to full duty," he said.
Despite what happened, he never questioned coming back. “You take it for what it's worth," Anderson said. "I think they know that I'm going to continue to do what makes me happy and helping people is what makes me happy with this job.”
The job, and life outside the job, has changed since he got shot. "The time since I've been out of the hospital has been a lot of recovery, a lot of physical therapy," he said.
He said everything seemed normal about the call at first, but it was when he and his fellow officers began a forced entry into the home is when Joseph DeSean Taylor began shooting at them.
Taylor held law enforcement to a nearly 16-hour hostage situation, barricading himself, his mother, and his two siblings inside the home. He’s been charged with three counts of aggravated assault on a public officer and three charges of kidnapping.
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Cedar Park police officers shot, suspect barricaded inside home
Three Cedar Park Police Department officers are recovering after being shot in the line of duty and the man suspected of shooting them is still barricaded inside a home with three hostages. FOX 7 Austin's Jane Lonsdale has latest details.
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Anderson said now, he's adjusting to his new normal. "I mean if you could imagine going to help somebody and next thing you know, you and your friends are shot, it's a horrible feeling," he said.
One thing he's adjusting to is how he interacts now with his family, especially his younger children. "It's no longer dad wrestling and playing like we used to, it's, 'daddy when is your arm going to get better?" he said.
Anderson added that when his oldest son saw him in his uniform for the first time, he was concerned. "And the first thing that came out of his mouth was, "'Daddy are you going to get shot again?'," Anderson said. "That's a pretty hard question to answer from a 5-year-old."
But says it's not something that doesn't cross his mind. "You're always gonna have that thought about, "Is this gonna be another shots fired call, is this gonna be where its at?" he said.
Adding if it wasn't for his family and the community, he wouldn't have the motivation to come back. "It's been pretty phenomenal with the support they've been giving," Anderson said.