Shot police officer: I thought I was going to die

Father-of-four, Sergeant Jon King, was left blind in one eye as a result of the shooting while he was on duty in Staffordshire – but has put what happened to him down as 'one of those things'.

And he also revealed he is the second serving police officer in his family to be shot – his brother Geoff King was hit while working in Wolverhampton back in 2006.

In November of that year, the Pc was opened fire on while on a path off the Penn Road after being approached during police checks following a spate of car thefts. He was shot twice and lost six-and-a-half pints of blood. Doctors said he was within two minutes of dying.

Now, 48-year-old Jon, who has 26 years' service with the force, was shot twice in the face at close range after he was called to help paramedics at a property in Wat Tyler Close, Rugeley, on October 19.

A 34-year-old man was later detained at the scene under the Mental Health Act and taken to a psychiatric unit for treatment.

As he continues his recovery, Sgt King has posted a video diary on YouTube. The police officer, who was born in Birmingham and grew up in Rugeley, described the moments leading up to when he was shot.

He said: "We were helping paramedics and social workers who wanted to see this guy and make sure he was okay.

"He was inside his flat and wouldn't come out. We had to use force to break the door. As we went in he started shooting at us.

"I was probably about 6ft away from him when it happened. As the door went, he started shooting at us. The first bullet hit me in the eye. I realised I had been shot. I could hear the bangs. My thought at the time was that I was going to die.

"I was too scared to touch my face in case it wasn't there." He said he was on the first floor landing and had tried to escape but was shot again. Sgt King, who lives in Cannock, added: "As I went to go down the steps he shot me in the side of the head on the temple and it's caused a bleed on the back of my left eye.

"I went to the ambulance and at the hospital they took both my eyes out to inspect them.

"My right my was shattered. They managed to stitch it back together. I was in surgery for four hours. Unfortunately the sight has not come back in that eye."

He was rushed to Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham and was transferred to Birmingham Midland Eye Centre the following morning.

He spent around a week there and was given eye tests and drops.

And of the tragic family coincidence he said: "It's unbelievable that two members of the same family got shot on duty responding to incidents. The bullet went into his back, hit his rib cage and came out of his neck, taking his carotid artery out. The guy who shot him got a life sentence."

The officer, who has racked up four commendations, has seen his YouTube blog get 1,500 hits from across the globe.

On the video, which he filmed at his home, he said: "This is part one of my video adventure.

"I am a police officer who was shot two weeks ago in this eye (points to right eye) with a gas powered handgun. Shot a little hard rubber bullet which went straight into my eye, which basically smashed my eyeball.

"I've had surgery on it but I'm completely blind in it. The second shot glanced across this eye (points to left eye) and just gave me a bleed in it. This eye is OK and the bleed has gone. I think I'm going to have a prosthetic eye."

He said he has got an appointment in two weeks with a 'plastics team' and intends to post other videos updating his condition. On the video, he added: "It's just one of those things.

"I've got 26 years' service and those sort of things just happen."

The former Fair Oak secondary school pupil said he was hoping to return to work but he would be unable to return to frontline duty.

Sgt King, also a guitarist in indie-rock band The Rock Dogs, added: "If you put yourself in the frontline for 26 years, you will get hurt at some point."