ATLANTA — For the first time, an Atlanta police officer is talking with Channel 2 Action News about an attack where a gunman shot him six times.
YSL criminal street gang member Christian Eppinger shot Officer David Rodgers six times in 2022 as he tried to arrest Eppinger for armed robbery.
Rogers spoke one-on-one with Channel 2 investigative reporter Mark Winne on Friday and walked him through the harrowing incident.
“I encountered Mr. Eppinger, gave him commands to get on the ground, let him know that he had paper. He failed to comply. I had issues getting my Taser, and at that point, he flanked me and I was shot,” Rogers said.
Earlier this week, we obtained video of Eppinger firing at Rodgers.
“While I didn’t know I was shot six times, I heard that sound quite a few times. Poom, poom, poom,” Rodgers said. “You kind of feel the heat from the blood flowing out of you, and I went to go access my firearm and couldn’t, and I remember turning towards him and all I could see was the white pants he had on and the muzzle of that Glock.”
Rogers said that he thanks God for surviving the attack.
“I kind of talk to God for a little bit. Just kind of remember saying to myself, ‘I’m not dying out here,’” Rogers said. “I took a graze across the back of the head that cracked my skull. I think they told me I took four to the back of the shoulder, shattered my humerus. And then one to the back of my thigh, right around my hamstring.”
Rodgers says he used to work for Georgia Power but was laid off. He told Winne that it was the power of God that led him to his calling: policework.
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“I fell in love with the service. Love with the people,” Rodgers said.
He said it’s a miracle that he’s even still alive today.
“I’m definitely a walking miracle. No doubt about it. Yeah, God gave me the gift of life in that situation, or more life. He definitely placed some angels around me throughout recovery. And he gave me these special gifts of peace. I’ve had peace,” Rodgers said.
Rodgers credits Will Johnson, now a sergeant, who, Eppinger also shot at but didn’t hit, for fast action applying a tourniquet at the scene and more.
He said he got to Grady Memorial Hospital in the back of an undercover car led by a blue light escort.
Rodgers said he was in the courtroom on Monday when Eppinger was sentenced for the attempted murder of Rodgers and Johnson, and a host of other crimes, to 40 years in prison and 25 years’ probation.
The prison time will run at the same time as a 45-year sentence from a probation revocation, who Eppinger was already serving.
“Outside of the bigger question of where’s the justice, I think we have to pay particular attention to how we treat our protectors,” Rodgers said.
Rodgers told Winne that more than he was angry for himself, he was upset for Johnson and other officers.
“It was maybe 30 to 40 officers within that courtroom that day. After the sentence came down, and you just look at the reactions on everyone’s face, there was a lot of sadness. There’s a lot a dejection. You saw tears, but you saw defeat,” Rodgers said.
The judge overseeing the case told Winne that in crafting Eppinger’s sentence in the YSL case, she considered the lengthy probation revocation Eppinger was already serving, was essentially already a punishment for the same crimes for which she sentenced him Monday.
“I want every member of the Atlanta Police Department to know this: I see your bravery. And I recognize it, and so do the citizens of this city,” Atlanta Police Chief Darin Schierbaum said.
“I would have rather they just put in a stipulation that he got a PhD while he had to sit down, just so he could experience something else other than what he’s grew up in,” Rodgers said.
Rodgers said the most important part of his entire story is thankfulness. He says he is grateful to God and for the people He put around him to be strong when he couldn’t be. He said they include his family, Mayor Andre Dickens, former APD officer Lois Palzolo, Sgt. Will Johnson, Officer Stacy Booker, Sgt. Jamir Denson, former APD officer Thomas Crowder, Officer Claudia Rivers, Maj. Janice Sturdivant, Dr. Stephanie Thomas, Officer Jaz Rivera, Inv. Leon Delain, Lt. David Holleman, Lt. Tim Henninger, Chris Wigginton and Billy Shoemaker of the Georgia Public Safety Training Center, Douglasville Police Sgt. Matt Underwood and his charity Hooked On Blue, Chad Wallace of Team Blue Line, Keegan Merritt from a state peer support program and local school teacher Ashley Guthrie. He says their support came in many forms—from daily phone calls to getting him out of the house before he could return to duty and much more. And he said he wants to thank countless Atlanta citizens for their prayers and well wishes.,
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