Captain talks about deputy injured in shooting

A Sedgwick County sheriff's deputy shot in the line of duty is out of the hospital and recovering at home.  Sheriff Jeff Easter is not releasing his name.

KWCH did talk to his wife. She didn't want to talk on camera, but said he's doing good and she's happy to have him home.

"I am worried about everyone of them, everyday," said Annette Haga, Sedgwick County Sheriff Captain. "As the Captain of the parole division my biggest fear is that one of my deputies gets injured."

Captain Haga was at the hospital when the deputy arrived with gun shot wounds to his right shoulder and eye. She grabbed his hand when the deputy was wheeled into the emergency room, and she didn't let go.

"Anyone of us would have done the same thing, it just happened to be me who was there," Haga said. "He didn't have any deputies with him at that point in time, so I may have been the first that he interacted with there at the hospital that he knew."

Haga is the deputy's supervisor. She was at home when the shooting happened. At first she drove out to the scene near Potwin, but en route got the call to meet the deputy at the hospital.

"Told him I was there, reassured him I would stay with him," Haga said. "At that point I am focused on his needs and getting him medical care."

It's not the first time a co-worker has been rushed to the hospital. In 2009, deputy Brian Etheridge was killed in the line of duty. He was shot ambush-style by a man who called in a false report.

"Once you have been through this it is always on your mind that the possibility is there," Haga said. "I remind the troops on a regular basis not to be in a comfort zone of thinking this can't happen, because it can and we have seen it before and we hope that we never see it again."

In this case, Haga knows it could have been much worse.

"It wasn't as bad as it could have been," Haga said. "He's lucky and he's a very brave young man."

We're told doctors still need to do some work on the deputy's eye before they know how bad the damage is.

One suspect is behind bars, the other is still in the hospital. Jason Perez was shot in the chest by a Kansas Highway Patrol trooper. He will be arrested and charged once doctors release him.