‘It Is a Miracle from God’: Officer Survives Gunshot Wound to the Head, Defies Prognosis

(Courtesy of Oconee County Sheriff’s Office)

A sheriff’s deputy who was shot in the head while pursuing a suspect has survived, defying his doctors’ prognosis that he wouldn’t pull through.

On Nov. 16, Cpl. Lucas Watts and his partner were in pursuit of a Chevy pickup after the driver fled a traffic stop on S. Highway 11 at Mt. Pleasant Road, Greenville, South Carolina. Soon, shots were fired, and 27-year-old Cpl. Watts was shot in the forehead. The driver of the pickup fled the scene.

According to a news release from the Oconee County Sheriff’s office, Cpl. Watts was transferred to the hospital, and the search for the suspect continued.

(Courtesy of Oconee County Sheriff’s Office)

The suspect was later located, shot, and arrested by deputies. Cpl. Watts was then transferred to a trauma center in nearby Greenville County.

When Oconee County Sheriff Mike Crenshaw arrived at the scene, he received a message from Greenville County Sheriff Hobart Lewis informing him of the grim news.

“He tells me that he’s talked with some of the [hospital] staff there, and they tell him that Corporal Watts’s wound is not survivable and that he’s not going to make it,” Sheriff Crenshaw told Fox 5, adding that Cpl. Watts’s wife did not hear about her husband’s prognosis before she entered the hospital room. She insisted that she wanted to see her husband and believed that he was fine.

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However, things changed for the better after Cpl. Watt’s wife entered the room.

“I didn’t personally witness this, but the family shared this with me,” the sheriff said. “They said that when she went in, she touched his chest and his body started to move. ... The doctor was in there, and he saw that it was the first movement from the time he had been shot.”

In a statement to The Epoch Times, Sheriff Crenshaw said: “It is a miracle from God that Corporal Lucas Watts survived his gunshot wound to his head. He did not move for over two hours from the time he was shot until his wife touched his chest and he started to move. He is currently breathing on his own, but will need traumatic brain injury rehabilitation.”

(Courtesy of Oconee County Sheriff’s Office)

Cpl. Watts has served with the Oconee County Sheriff’s Office (OCSO) since March 2020, following two and a half years with Anderson County Sheriff’s Office. He was assigned to OCSO’s Pro-Active Community Enforcement team and Marine Unit at the time of the shooting.

A prayer vigil took place outside OCSO on Nov. 17. In an update, Sheriff Crenshaw explained that a fund has been set up, with 100 percent of donations raised going directly to Cpl. Watts and his family. The fund has since raised over $170,000 toward the goal of $200,000.

The Greenville County Sheriff’s Office in South Carolina was requested and is conducting the official investigation into the shooting.

“On behalf of the men and women of the Oconee County Sheriff’s Office, I would like to thank everyone who has prayed for Lucas, his family, our Deputies, and all law enforcement at this time,” Sheriff Crenshaw said.

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