‘I still have the bullet in my head,’ Independence officer tells homecoming gathering

The younger of Independence Police Officer Tom Wagstaff’s two sons fought off tears while describing his father’s eight-month rehabilitation from a gunshot wound to the skull.

“I never realized how much one event can change a life,” Alex Wagstaff opened his remarks, stirring emotions Saturday in a crowd at First Baptist Church of Blue Springs. But just when it seemed the boy might break down, Alex ’s voice quickened as he recognized the occasion.

“I’m super, super excited,” he said.

Dad was alive, after all. Listening from a wheelchair next to Alex.

Hundreds of family members and friends, including fellow police officers, filled the sanctuary to honor Tom Wagstaff, 43, as part of a “hero’s homecoming.” The ceremony included a video of the officer’s own account of how close he came to dying from a March 29 shooting while responding to a home burglary.

“I still have the bullet in my head,” he said in a clear, strong voice. “I went from an adult to an infant.”

For a time in an intensive care unit he could communicate only by blinking. After he was able to speak, “it took someone to record me to realize I was speaking in a whisper,” said Tom Wagstaff.

Joined by his wife, Stacy, Alex, and other son, Jordan, “Wags” stood with the help of a walker to receive the department’s Distinquished Service Medal and police Purple Heart.

It was the second straight day of salutes to Wagstaff, following Friday’s motorcade that carried him back to the Independence station after his rehabilitation at a Nebraska facility.

“His rehabilitation continues,” said police public information officer John Syme. “Whether he comes back to full duty is up to him.”

At the Saturday ceremony, punctuated with several standing ovations, Wagstaff thanked donors, businesses and colleagues who continue to reach out to his family. Also, “I’d like to thank the Centerpoint Medical Center staff,” he said, “for keeping me alive.”

Independence Police Chief Brad Halsey credited a resilient Stacy Wagstaff for remaining positive throughout and “giving me the courage and confidence to lead the department and say, ‘We’re going to be OK.’ ”

Stacy Wagstaff recalled doctors telling her after the shooting to “plan for the inevitable....

“I kept thinking, you don’t know my Tom.”

This story was originally published December 9, 2017 at 6:24 PM with the headline "‘I still have the bullet in my head,’ Independence officer tells homecoming gathering."