# Allentown officer nearly died after shooting, doctor says



## kwflatbed (Dec 29, 2004)

The Allentown police officer who was shot by a gunman 11 days ago nearly died when the bullet lodged ''millimeters'' behind his heart, said doctors at Lehigh Valley Hospital - Cedar Crest today at a press conference where new details were revealed.

Officer Andrew J. Beky, 31, was in profound shock, comatose and had no blood pressure when he was rushed to the emergency room just after midnight Oct. 27, with a gunshot wound to his left shoulder, said Dr. Robert Barraco, the trauma surgeon who operated on Beky for more than an hour that night.

Barraco and emergency workers knew Beky had been shot in the shoulder but were puzzled where the bullet went or if he had other injuries.

Beky thanked everyone who worked to save his life -- the physicians and staff at Lehigh Valley Hospital, the paramedics, his fellow officers and his wife, Gina.

"Without them I wouldn't be here," he said.

Beky was shot after he and four other officers showed up at 133 S. Madison St. early on Oct. 27 with a search warrant.

Beky fired back at 20-year-old Isaac M. Jefferson Jr., who then apparently killed himself, according to investigators.

Authorities said Beky's shot hit Jefferson in the stomach and the officers withdrew.

Jefferson apparently took his own life during a four-hour standoff, police say.

District Attorney James Martin has said Jefferson was "a person of great interest in a homicide investigation.''

Related Videos:



*VIDEO:* Beky Shooting (1) 
(Frank Wiese/The Morning Call) 


*VIDEO:* Beky Shooting (2) 
(Frank Wiese/The Morning Call) 


*VIDEO:* Beky Shooting (3) 
(Frank Wiese/The Morning Call)

-- Reporting by Wendy Solomon, The Morning Call


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