Almost 2 years to day after his shooting, a South Bend officer reacts
By GWEN O’BRIEN, The South Bend (Indiana) Tribune
South Bend police Cpl. Ray Wolfenbarger said the last time he saw Mishawaka police Patrolman Bryan Verkler, 27, was in the spring.
Wolfenbarger had gone to the Mishawaka Police Department to show officers the videotape taken from his car on Dec. 16, 2001 -- when a gunman shot Wolfenbarger three times at close range during a traffic stop.
Wolfenbarger was nearly killed in the incident. He still walks with the help of arm crutches and a leg brace and has not been able to return to the streets.
“I showed them the video and gave them a heads up. I hoped to prevent a shooting,” Wolfenbarger said. “Verkler came up to me and shook my hand and said ‘Thanks for coming up here.’ ”
Wolfenbarger and his wife, Amy, were awaken by a call at 4 a.m. Saturday when a South Bend officer called with news that two Mishawaka officers were shot, one was dead -- Cpl. Thomas Roberts, 43.
“When he first called, Verkler was still fighting for his life. At that point, Amy and I talked about whether we should go,” Wolfenbarger said.
The couple thought they could provide support to the Verkler family. Wolfenbarger had survived being shot in the line of duty, maybe Verkler would, too. Perhaps Amy Wolfenbarger could offer support to Verkler’s wife, Julie.
But something made them wait an hour, Wolfenbarger said. That’s when they got the call Verkler had died during surgery.
The Wolfenbargers decided it was better to give the families of the fallen officers space, for now.
“I’m going to hold off until the funerals. We’ll send cards and then try to talk to the families,” Wolfenbarger said.
“I’m definitely going to the funerals,” Wolfenbarger said.
Wolfenbarger said people still send him and his family cards of encouragement.
“I want those families to have that kind of encouragement later. They have a lot of support now, they’ll need it later, too,” he said.
Not surprisingly, news of the shootings hit Wolfenbarger hard -- and just three days shy of the second anniversary of his own shooting.
“It could have swung either way for me. It was that close. Why did God spare my life and not theirs?” he said.
Wolfenbarger had met Roberts before but didn’t really know him. He had known Verkler for three or four years, he said.
Verkler worked in the booking department at the St. Joseph County Jail, according to Wolfenbarger, and Wolfenbarger would chat with him when bringing in prisoners.
“He was an all-around good guy,” Wolfenbarger said.