By Amanda Spence
DAYTON, Ohio — Officer Thadeu Holloway was investigating a case surrounding a suspect attempting to use fake money at a store, but in an instant his life was forever changed.
“When he turned to face me I knew something was wrong,” Holloway told WHIO TV 7 about the Sept. 21, 2021 incident.
Holloway explained the man, Antwayne Lowe, tried to punch the officer, so he tased him. The man didn’t listen when Holloway asked him repeatedly to put his hands behind his back. But Lowe then reached for his firearm, and he shot the officer in the head.
“I knew I’d been shot, obviously. I fell to the ground, I never lost consciousness, I knew what happened. I knew what I had to do, so after I had returned fire, I was in my head thinking, ‘I’m going to die,’” Holloway explained.
Another officer took Holloway to the local hospital in less than four minutes.
“I could feel the blood spewing out of my head, I could taste the blood as it was running from my face, I could see it as it was pooling in front of me,” he said. “The bullet hit right here on my temple, and traveled underneath the skin and then came out here.”
Recovery has been a long and tedious process after suffering a traumatic brain injury with memory issues and headaches. He also has difficulty finding the right words. Holloway experienced ringing in his ear with hearing and vision loss as well.
Holloway was with the National Guard since high school and was deployed three times. He has served as a Dayton police officer for nine years. He’s working light duty now with 20 hours per week.
“In January I actually fought with my doctors to at least go back to work, they wanted me stay off work a little longer and I couldn’t stay off,” he added.
The suspect is in the local county jail, and in November he pled not guilty by reason of insanity. However, in June, a judge ruled Lowe was competent to stand trial.
“My goal is to just be able to take care of my family, whatever that entails, you know whether it’s going back out to the streets or going a different avenue, I just want to make sure I’m still here, still able to take care of my family for you know a long time,” Holloway concluded.