Veteran police officer shot after robbers cornered him and his wife outside their home

Police Lt. Gary King in Florida said he's 'doing great' following surgery.

ByABC News
January 19, 2018, 1:59 PM

— -- Two men have been arrested in connection with the robbery and shooting of a veteran police lieutenant in Florida outside his home.

One of the suspects, Kionne Bell, 22, has been charged with attempted murder with a deadly weapon, robbery with a deadly weapon, aggravated battery of a person 65 or older and armed burglary, the police report said. He is being held without bond.

The other suspect was arrested this morning and his identity has yet to be released.

Bell and the other suspect allegedly followed and then robbed Doral police Lt. Gary King and his wife in their home's driveway late Tuesday night, the police report said.

King, an officer for nearly 50 years according to ABC affiliate WPLG in Miami, was off duty and with his wife on their way home after they had shopped at Home Depot and stopped to get takeout for dinner when they noticed a car following them, the police report said.

"They observed a suspicious, small red four-door sedan following," the police report said. But after they saw the car turn down a different street, "they proceeded to their residence without fear."

King was unloading the car in their driveway at about 11:40 p.m. as his wife went in their house to turn off the burglar alarm when the two men approached, the police report said. One of the suspects, identified in the police report as Bell, punched the off-duty police officer in the face and, as King removed his gun from his waistband, reached to grab it from him, the police report said.

The veteran officer was shot during the struggle over his gun, and the assailant made off with both his gun and wallet.

King’s wife, whose identity has not been released, had meanwhile come back outside where the other suspect pushed her to the ground, punched her face and stole her Rolex watch from her wrist, the police report said.

Both suspects then fled in the red car.

Bell was arrested the following day after he was identified through surveillance footage taken where the robbery occurred, and at the Home Depot and the restaurant from which the victims were allegedly followed.

King had surgery on his arm and said he's "doing great."

"I was shot above the wrist," King told WPLG in an interview Thursday from the hospital. "I came and fortunately for me the surgeon was here doing another operation, and they took me right in."

"There's something personal about it when somebody comes in your home, your house, and does something like that," the veteran officer added. "When I worked robbery I used to handle these types of cases, but you don't really realize how unsettling it is until it happens to you."

King, who has since been released from the hospital, plans to return to his police job after he recovers, WPLG reported.