The long road to recovery has had its ups and downs, but Norwich Officer Jonathan Ley remains hopeful to one day return to the job.
The career military and police officer was shot four times during a standoff at apartments on Cedar Street on January 7th.
The veteran of 14 years in the Norwich police department says he had gone on hundreds of calls like the one that night before, but this one turned out much different. As Ley approached the Cedar Glen apartment, Jason Razzino, 30, fired a semi-automatic weapon, hitting Ley in the neck, hand, shoulder and leg.
“Things progressed very quickly,” said Ley. “It’s unfortunate that the gentleman was in the state that he was in, but i have no hatred towards him. Its part of my job.”
As chaos erupted around him, Ley stayed focused on his training.
“I just kept my sons face in my head. You can’t panic because you have to take care of yourself. You have to continue to fight but because of my wounds were pretty severe i just couldn’t. I was getting weak quickly.”
Ley credits the other officers on the scene for allowing him to tell this story today.
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“They saved my life and then they went back up and continued to work thru everything they had experienced.”
It is with that in mind that Ley is hoping to give back. A benefit will be held to help him get through the recovery period. It will be on Saturday from 1-5 pm at Dodd Stadium. A portion of the proceeds will go to purchasing tactical gear for other Norwich officers.
Ley says his tactical gear helped protect him that day and he wants others to have the same protection.
Long days and even longer nights have followed the shooting, including several trips back to the hospital because of surgeries and complications. Through it all, the goal remains the same.
“There is no doubt in my mind that I’ll get back to work. It’s just a question of when.”
