The Denton police officer who survived being shot during a 2019 traffic stop is retiring, the Denton Police Department announced Tuesday.
In the early morning hours of Oct. 29, 2019, Officer Urban Rodriguez was shot in the head and femur during a routine traffic stop, according to Denton police. The suspects got away in their vehicle, but they were soon found and arrested. Last year, Antwon Pinkston was found guilty of shooting Rodriguez.
Immediately after the shooting, Rodriguez was hospitalized and his life was saved, but he faced a long road to recovery.
“When I saw Urban in the hospital, I did not think I would ever see him walk out of there,” said Frank Dixon, then Denton’s police chief, in a video released by the city on Tuesday. “Every time I see him, he’s a walking miracle.”
In rehab, Rodriguez had to work hard, but “I don’t give up.”
“I had to learn all over again, like a baby,” he said in the video. “I started in a wheelchair, but now I’m walking freely.”
Almost exactly one year after the shooting, the Denton Police Department hosted a special award ceremony in honor of Rodriguez, who was awarded a Purple Heart, as well as the Combined Law Enforcement Associations of Texas’ Regional Officer of the Year Award.
The department congratulated Rodriguez on his retirement, but Police Chief Doug Shoemaker said Rodriguez “not quite done” with Denton PD.
“We’re going to continue to involve him in a lot of things within the agency, especially culturally, because he’s so important to who we are and what we’re about,” Shoemaker said in the video. “Urban is and always will be a part of the Denton Police Department.”
