Oregon officer ‘just missed being killed’

SALEM, Ore. — There’s a bullet in Sgt. John Mikkola’s lower back, where, oddly enough, it will likely stay.

It hit Mikkola’s sternum, “skated” past his heart, through his diaphragm and punctured his liver before lodging in his spine.

Salem Hospital trauma surgeon Dr. Tracy Taggart found the bullet in Mikkola’s T-11 vertebra, which she described as the bulkiest bone in his vertebrae, narrowly avoiding both his aorta and spinal cord by millimeters.

“He just barely missed being killed by it,” Taggart said.

If the bullet had not stopped in that exact spot, Mikkola could have faced paralysis or death.

Today, Mikkola, 49, is walking and recovering from his wounds.

He spoke at a news conference on Wednesday at the Woodburn Police Department about the March 31 shooting in Salem. The characteristically affable Mikkola told stories of his recovery, joked about the remaining bullets in his body, and then, at times, became choked with emotion.

Mikkola said he recalls much of what happened that night.

As part of a detective detail, Mikkola was traveling in an unmarked patrol car to a northeast Salem apartment complex to investigate a Woodburn burglary. Mikkola was wearing street clothes without a bulletproof vest. Mikkola said if he was in uniform, he would have worn his vest.

He distinctly remembers the first bullet that hit him in the thigh. Then, he was hit in the chest. Mikkola felt the impact, but didn’t know he was shot until his shirt was taken off and he saw the hole.

“I’m thankful to be alive,” he said.

Five Salem police officers responded as backup to the Woodburn officers and ran toward the gunfire.

Together, they carried Mikkola for half a block and placed him into a patrol car.

To help cushion Mikkola from the rigid plastic backseat of the patrol car, Salem police Cpl. Kevin Hill climbed in and laid down to serve as a human mattress, while Mikkola was loaded on top of him.

“I want to apologize to Kevin Hill, who got the worst duty of all,” Mikkola said, jokingly.

Even as he was shot and bleeding, Mikkola said he stayed in “work mode,” telling investigators as much as he could about the suspect.

When Mikkola thanked Detective Sean Bennett, Cpl. Hill, Detective Kevin McCarley, Detective Abe Dedek and Detective Adam Miller, he paused to hold back tears.

Mikkola, a police veteran for more than 12 years, received a medal of his own for his first-responder efforts during a fatal Woodburn bank bombing in 2008 that killed a Woodburn police captain and an Oregon State Police trooper. Chief Scott Russell lost a leg in the explosion.

“When the code zero — officer needs help — goes out, there is no worse feeling,” he said. “You have a job to do, but your adrenaline goes through the roof and you struggle to maintain your composure so you can help the fallen officer and find the suspect.”

Instead of Mikkola being taken by a patrol car, an ambulance arrived at the scene to take him to the hospital. It was then the severity of his wounds hit him.

“All of the sudden, the job was done,” Mikkola said.

Mikkola arrived at the emergency department in stable condition. Taggart was on call that night. The shooting suspect, Billy Jack Gray, arrived in critical condition and was taken into surgery first.

While Mikkola waited for surgery, many of his fellow officers came in to see him, including Chief Russell. Mikkola was worried that his mother, Audrey Baylor, would not get a chance to see him before his surgery. So Woodburn Detective Sgt. Santiago Kent took out his BlackBerry and recorded a short video of Mikkola assuring his mom that he was OK. She did arrive in time to see him.

After Taggart finished surgery with Gray, she examined Mikkola and ordered chest X-rays and CAT scans to determine where the bullets traveled.

“He was very calm,” Taggart said. “I was amazed, at someone who’s been through what he’s been through.”

Mikkola was in surgery for about an hour and a half.

The wound in Mikkola’s liver also has healed well, much quicker than if the bullet had hit other vital organs such as his intestines, which would likely have caused infections or complications, Taggart said.

So the bullets will stay in Mikkola for now. The other two bullets hit each one of his legs, one in the calf and one in the upper thigh, lodged in muscle tissue.

Taggart recommended that he leave the bullets in his body, since they weren’t damaging major organs. Exploratory surgery would also potentially be more dangerous, she said.

Taggart said Mikkola has made an amazing recovery. Mikkola bears a scar in his chest from the surgery, but all the staples have been removed. Mikkola’s checkup with Taggart on Tuesday appeared well.

“At this point, he can do most things that are comfortable for him to do,” she said. “He’s recovered to the point where he can get back to his daily life — this kind of thing takes a lot out of a person.”

Mikkola thanked the efforts and support from the city of Woodburn, Woodburn residents, his family and friends, Salem Hospital staff, and particularly, fellow police officers.

“They heard an eruption of gunshots, heard that ‘an officer was down’ the worst thing you can hear in your career and ran directly into the danger zone,” he said.

Authorities said the alleged gunman, Gray, 23, reportedly ran down the staircase of a two-story apartment complex, firing a gun in each hand toward the Woodburn officers.

Shortly after, Gray was shot by Marion County sheriff’s Deputy Ron Cereghino. Gray remains in serious condition at Salem Hospital.

On April 16, a Marion County jury determined that Cereghino was justified in using deadly force in the shooting.

Mikkola said he expects to be back at work within a month and a half.

Mikkola said he’s slowly regaining strength every day. For some reason, since the surgery, he craves ice-cold, cut-up fresh fruit. He’s lost about 20 pounds.

“I don’t recommend this diet — high-lead, low-protein,” he joked. “You can quote me on that.”