Scared Monkeys Discussion Forum

I am going to share some of the events of my sons shooting on Nov. 17,2011. He was a detective with the Lancaster County Drug task force at the time. He had gone to the hospital with me at 6:00 am for my tumor surgery. He had taken the day off but found out they were doing some work that night. After leaving me at 2:30 pm he went into work . Plain clothes, unmarked SUV, scruffy beard and all. After doing some drug buys and underage alcohol buys, he and 3 other undercover officers went to a small little restaurant just outside city limits for a dinner break. It was close to 7 PM. The little restaurant is kind of chopped up into three areas. Just a small room and a cash register inside the front door, with a small dining area through an archway, then a bigger dining area in back. While the four were eating dinner in the back along with a couple of families, they heard shouting and cursing from the register area. The place was being robbed, All of the officers jumped up and made their way toward the front.  Brandon was trying to get the families down under the tables when his partner confronted the robber. Shots were fired and one of the six or seven shots came thru the wall and struck Brandon in his right rib cage, traveled across his chest, tore the top of the liver and cut into the artery to his stomach and exited  about an inch below his heart and lungs on his left breast . It then entered his left arm and lodged in his bicep. It still remains in his arm. The robber ran out the back door where he came in through the kitchen. He had been hit with a shot to his cheek.
No one else was hurt but my son. He told me that he slid down the wall when he realized he had been hit. One of his fellow officers wrapped his arms around him tight trying to stop the bleeding. They kept telling him to lay down, but he said he had learned in training that to lay down was to give up. He was airlifted to Carolina Medical Center in Charlotte N.C. under the name of Vermont trauma.That is what he was named as at the hospital. He was so lucky his father-in-law was already in Charlotte for a meeting and met him at the hospital. Mom here was in a different hospital 30 miles away. He was taken into surgery to repair the damage . By the Grace of God he made it through. Drs. told him he was a lucky man, he says no,I'm not a lucky man, I am a saved man.
I was discharged the next morning and went to Charlotte to see with my own eyes that he was ok. Still in pajamas and a robe .
He was able to come home on Tuesday, I think, He had a couple of months recovery, but went back to work in Feb. A job came open in the dept. for a training instructor and another guy was wanting the drug task force so Btrandon got the promotion to Sgt. in Officer Training. He had made the decision with his family that he could not go back to working the streets.
He received an award from the South Carolina SHeriffs Assoc.  then was selected as the recipiant of the first ever "NOT TODAY" award in Chicago, at the ILEETA convention in April of 2012. He has become a motivational speaker and has given his testimony numerous time at many events. I am so very proud of this man I raised.
Brandon was shot on Nov.17, 2011, His shooter went to Court on April 17,2013 for a guilty plea to all counts. And it had been 17 months to the day for justice.
He was sentenced to 30 yrs for attempted murder , strong armed robbery, kidnapping and robbery from another robbery he had commited.

Below I am going to post some pics. Klaas if any are not allowed please just delete them. 

http://www.wsoctv.com/news/news/local/man-pleads-guilty-after-armed-robbery-attempt-shoo/nXPk6/
This is the sentencing hearing. We all had an opportunity to give our impact statements.

This should have been the first news report.

http://www.wsoctv.com/news/news/teen-charged-after-deputy-shot-in-robbery-attempt/nGScc/

Wow, Darla! What a horrible ordeal for you and your son and his own family! I'm so very sorry for what everyone has been through. Your son's character certainly shines through in the story and I know you are proud of him. Any Mother would be. Thank God he is still with you and his children, although I'm sure he's had a difficult recovery. His ability to forgive is a real testament to who he is, and to the wonderful Mother who raised him.

Love and Prayers to you, hon!   ::MonkeyKiss::

Oh Darla  ::MonkeyAngel:: What can one say. I am so happy that your son lived after being shot.  Very happy he took the new job. How proud you must be. For him to be able to tell the young man who shot him has forgiven him and wished him luck.  ::MonkeyAngel::

That must have been frightening for all of you.  It breaks my heart that children had to suffer also.  I am so glad he is still with us.  You must be very proud of him for trying to protect others.

 ::MonkeyAngel::

Darla, I can't imagine the horror of it all.  I am so happy things turned out good for Brandon.
 ::monkeyflag3::

I pray for you to continue to be strong and for the angels to protect your son, Darla..xoxoxoxo

Darla...so glad that your brave son made it through his ordeal!
Thinking of you and your son and family! What an awesome kid you have!

good post ditto

Don't know how I missed this, just don't wander around as much as I should I guess!

Awesome story Darla, thank you for sharing.   ::MonkeyCool::

So sorry for all that Brandon, his family, and you have gone through. 

But so thankful that Brandon recovered from his injuries and is now using his experience to encourage and inspire others.  Give him a hug from texasmom, I'm proud of him too!

Awesome son, awesome mom!   ::MonkeyKiss::

Thank you all for your sweet and kind words. He is doing well and still speaking every chance he gets. They are in New Orleans this week on a mission trip with the youth group from the church. He has been our strength this past year since we lost Cody. We all had a difficult week this past week as it was Cody Angelversary July 2. I went to the cemetery Tuesday and took a bouguet of flowers from my beds and sat with my Angel baby for a while.  We miss him so very much. But the good memories are starting to come more frequently and are slowly easing our hearts. Please keep Chandler in your prayers as he is still fighting this horrible disease. He is doing well but no longer able to walk. I spoil him terribly, but make everyday the best it can be for him and my other 5 grands.
Thank you all,
love my Monkey family.
Darline

Darline, how wonderfully brave you are and such an inspiration.  Kindly know you and your family are forever in my prayers.
(http://i380.photobucket.com/albums/oo242/Brandi-Monkey/WEATHER/Animation1b.gif)

I forgot to mention one thing. We had gotten up at 4 am to go to the hospital and I knew he was so tired. I begged him to take the rest of the day off and go home and get a nap and spend the rest of the day with the kids. IIRC I told him that about 5 times. Don't think I didn't remind him of it the next day! But his reply was that God had put him there to save someone else's life. Maybe more than one or two.

Sister, you and your family are always in my prayers also along with all of my Monkey sisters and brothers.

Darla,

Prayers to you and your family.

Love,

IBE

I am sorry I haven't been ar5ound much, I have missed you all terribly.

Brandon is still doing well. He was promoted to LT. on Nov.11, 2013. Cody's 22nd birthday.

This summer has brought more worry and extreme sadness to our family. In June we found out that Chandler is having some liver failure and kidney failure. Cardiology workup came back great. But liver panel numbers were still way to high. While trying to get all of his appts lined up in Charleston he was in an accident with his golf cart. His cousin was driving and slammed on brakes on a wet pavement flipping the golf cart. Chandler was thrown out and the golf cart landed on his right hip. He broke his femur half in two about 5 inches below the hip joint. He was taken to a local hospital and sent on to Levine Children's hospital in Charlotte N.C. He underwent 5 1/2 hrs of surgery trying to put his leg back together with plates and screws. His incision went from his waist to almost his knee. He spent 12 days inpatient and was sent home. He has not been able to walk for the past 4-5 years. After 10 days at home his incision started draining copious amounts of fluid so he was admitted back in Levine's. He underwent his second surgery for a wash out and cultures which came back as Mrsa and enterobactra(sp) infection. His incision was left open with a wound vac on it for 2 days and then he had his 3rd surgery. His wound was washed out again and they were able to close.He was inpatient for another 10 days and had a PICC line inserted in his arm for 3 different antibiotics daily. 2 weeks after coming home the Picc line went bad so he had to go inpatient again last week for a new PICC line. he came home the next day. Now today they are not able to get a blood draw from the line but it is flushing and meds are going in. So the home health nurse just poked him to get his blood draw. So another PICC line will have to be placed sometime this week or next. He has an appt. on Sept 25 with the surgeon to see if he can bear any weight what so ever on the leg. Then Oct. 2 he has an appt with the liver specialist at Medical University who took care of Cody in Charleston. So if you guys will please keep him in your prayers it would be so appreciated. His Mom and Dad and little sister could use some prayers too. Thanks and God Bless!

Darla,

Congratulations to Brandon on his promotion to LT!

I've added you, Chandler, his mom, dad and sister to my prayers.  We've missed you!  Please keep us up to date on Chandler's progress. 

(((((HUGS)))))  ::buzzbee3::

Thanks Muffy, I haven't had a whole lot of time I did sit down last night and today to catch up on Holly Bobo case.. It is taking all of us to keep up with all that is going on.Stephanie's husband works 12 hours day through the week and she works the Baylor shift on the weekends. Chandler is like an infant, Just a big big one.Any transport he has to have is by ambulance. the dr. does not want him moving the leg at all. I take Courtney one day a week for allergy shots and help out with cooking and cleaning on the weekends. We are so worried about his liver with all the strong meds he is on and they are drawing blood 3 times a week to keep up with the amount of meds in his system. 
We so appreciate the prayers. I will be back one day. God is good. It could have been so much worse.

Darla,

Congratulations to your son for his promotion.

You, Chandler and the whole family are in my prayers.  ::MonkeyAngel::

 ::HelloKitty::

Good morning friend,
I was going through some of my posts on the inspiration thread and saw so many of our conversations.  I have really missed you.
You and your family remain in my daily prayers and I know you pray for me as well.

 ::MonkeyHeart::

Thank you Sister, I pray for you all everyday. I miss chatting with you all so much. Maybe soon things will get settled around here again. Trying to give Stephanie a break somedays and taking care of my Mom who has Dementia has taken it's toll on this old woman. I stay so tired and stressed out and worried. God has really been working in me for the past while and things are starting to be a little brighter  I have learned the hard way that He does things in His time and not mine, so I just drop him a note in my God box and wait on Him. He sure has more Faith in me than I do.
Looking forward to getting back in the forums soon.
Tomorrow I am getting my Chandler time , he has put in a special request for lunch, so I will be spending the day with him. Don't want to miss a second of precious time with him.
God Bless and take care. Love you all!

Today is the 3rd anniversary of my son's shooting. My daughter in law shared this article on Facebook today and thought I would share it with you all.It is an old article and most of the pictures in it do not show up.

https://www.sspba.org/gen/articles/Deputy_Brandon_Rollins_refuses_to_give_up_232.jsp[img]

Thanking God again for His presence.

Gosh, three years.

http://cn2.com/day-reflection/

I am so proud of this man.

Thank you Sister. It seems like only yesterday.

This is the full raw video!

http://cn2.com/raw-interview/

Wow Darla  ::MonkeyHeart::  Thanks for sharing.  So happy he is doing so well.  ::MonkeyAngel::