LAKELAND, Fla. — Two Polk County deputies are back home after a deadly shootout with a gunman sent them to the hospital last week.
"Praise the Lord our guys are home! Lt. Chad Anderson and DS Craig Smith have both been released from the hospital - they both have long roads to recovery, but with your love, support, and prayers, we hope they'll be back out there soon protecting and serving," Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd wrote in a post on X.
Both deputies were shot just after midnight on April 28 at Lakeland's Hunt Fountain Park while providing backup for an encounter with a 26-year-old Moorish Sovereign Citizen who went by the name Kmac El Bey.
Anderson was shot in his left arm, and the bullet continued into his chest cavity, lodging between his heart and spinal column. The sheriff said Anderson was "fractions of an inch" away from being paralyzed or killed.
Smith was shot twice in his right arm.
"It is through the grace of God that our Lieutenant and Deputy did not die that evening," Judd said.
While both Anderson and Smith have "extensive injuries," they will continue to recover at home before continuing to rehabilitation and physical therapy.
The sheriff's office shared a video that included footage of the emotional moment Anderson was released from the hospital.
He can be seen getting emotional as his fellow deputies lined the halls of the hospital hallway to cheer him on.
After Anderson and Smith were shot, other responding deputies returned fire, shooting and killing the suspect. The gunman's mother planned to meet with Polk County deputies to apologize for her son's actions.
"Thank you to our emergency responders, the staff at Lakeland Regional Health Medical Center, and all of our citizens who love and support us and who continue to pray for their recovery," the sheriff's office video says.