Harvey Cop Shot In Standoff Last Year Back At Work
CHICAGO (CBS) -- A south suburban police lieutenant who was shot last summer during a 39-hour hostage standoff received a standing ovation as he returned to work Tuesday morning.
Harvey Police Lt. Darnell Keel said he was surprised by colleagues lining a hallway and applauding and shaking his hand as he walked in.
Last summer, Keel pushed a rookie officer out of the way as the two exchanged gunfire on a porch with two gunmen who were holding eight people hostage.
Keel was shot in the right arm, which was put back together with a metal plate.
"It wasn't easy. It was unexpected, but it wasn't easy, but you know, that's part of the job," he said. "I've been in different positions in this department, and I always tell everybody that's police work. That's what you get in the business for. So things happen."
Harvey Mayor Eric Kellogg called Keel a hero for possibly saving another officer's life, but Keel downplayed his actions.
"It was just a reaction. Actually, I was trying to get out of the way with him," Keel said.
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He said the close call won't change the way he does his job.
"I was glad that it turned out the way that it was; not the I got shot part," he said.
Kellogg had Keel as a middle school student when he was a teacher.
"He was extremely lucky. He could have retired, but yet he chose to come back to work to do what he loves. We call him a hero," he said
Keel said he's glad to be back at work, and his wife is glad to have him out of the house.
Two men – David Jordan and Peter Williams – have been charged with attempted murder of a police officer, home invasion, and aggravated sexual assault.
Prosecutors have said the men forced their way into the home, robbed the homeowner, then held six children and two women hostage. One of those women, according to prosecutors, was sexually assaulted multiple times during the 39-hour ordeal.
Jordan, who has served time in prison for murder, was supposed to be on electronic monitoring at the time, but had gone off-grid, and was unaccounted for by the state prison system for 7.5 hours before an arrest warrant was triggered in the midst of the standoff.
State officials said Thursday that Jordan's absence didn't raise red flags at first. Under the conditions of his parole, he was allowed to leave his sister's Dixmoor home to search for work.
But when Jordan didn't return home by his 3 p.m. deadline, the Illinois Department of Corrections parole division tried without success to contact Jordan six times, a spokesman for the agency said. By that time, he and Williams allegedly had broken into a home near 147th and Robey.
