Doral police officer wounded in shooting says he's 'doing great'

Local 10 News speaks to Lt. Gary King from his hospital bed

MIAMI-DADE COUNTY, Fla. ā€“ A Doral police officer who was shot in his driveway during a robbery Tuesday night spoke exclusively to Local 10 News from his hospital bed.

"I'm doing wonderful," Lt. Gary King said Thursday morning from his hospital bed at Jackson South Medical Center. "I'm doing great."

Miami-Dade police said King and his wife were ambushed in the driveway of their Palmetto Bay home after returning home from an evening of shopping.

According to an arrest report, Kionne Bell and another man followed King home. As King unloaded his car, Bell and the other man walked into the gated yard and Bell punched King in the face, the report said.

Police said King reached for his gun, but during a struggle with Bell, the gun fired and King was shot in the arm.

A second unidentified man pushed King's wife to the ground, punched her in the face and stole her watch, the report said. Police said the men sped away in the red Toyota, taking King's gun and wallet with them.

Bell, 22, was arrested on charges of attempted second-degree murder, armed robbery and aggravated battery.

King praised the work of the Miami-Dade Police Department for "getting these predators out of the community."

"There's something personal about it when somebody comes in your home, your house, and does something like that," King said.

Kionne Bell appears in bond court as Miami-Dade County Judge Mindy Glazer reads the charges against him.

Miami-Dade County Judge Mindy Glazer ordered that Bell be held without bond. Bell didn't speak during his court appearance Thursday morning, but he could be seen shaking his head no as Glazer read from the arrest report.

King, who has spent almost 50 years as a police officer in South Florida, said he intends on returning to work. He first joined the Miami Police Department in 1969 and later joined the Miami-Dade Police Department in 1982. He currently serves as traffic section commander for the Doral Police Department.

"When I worked robbery, I used to handle these cases, but you don't really realize how unsettling it is until it happens to you," King said shortly before being released from the hospital.

Police are still searching for the other man involved in the armed robbery.


About the Authors:

Janine Stanwood joined Local 10 News in February 2004 as an assignment editor. She is now a general assignment reporter. Before moving to South Florida from her Washington home, Janine was the senior legislative correspondent for a United States senator on Capitol Hill.