The second Elkhart Police officer injured in the Martin’s shootings Monday night was released from the hospital today.
A crowd mostly of police officers came from departments throughout the area, forming a half-circle around the entrance to Memorial Hospital in South Bend. Some had their wives and children with them.
Then as the revolving door finally opened, the crowd's chatter turned to applause.
Patrolman Ethan Pasternak emerged, with Corporal Paul Vandenburg walking next to him. Vandenburg, released from the hospital Tuesday, was the other officer shot when the two responded to calls of a shooter in the store. Outside, they shot and killed suspect Juan Sanchez.
They walked slowly with their left arms in slings. Before getting into their vehicles, Pasternak and Vandenburg stopped, with people still clapping, and hugged each other with their other arm.
Prosecutors have not yet said what led up to the shooting or what might have motivated Sanchez to open fire in the store, killing 49-year-old customer Ben Jeffery and 19-year-old employee Annasue Rocha.
