CAPE OFFICER WOUNDED IN SHOOTOUT BACK ON JOB

On his first day back in uniform Monday, police Cpl. Keith May got choked up recounting the "unbelievable" outpouring of sympathy and cards from children and other well-wishers as far away as Pennsylvania after he and Sgt. Bradley Moore were shot by a drug suspect Feb. 10.

A woman in Jackson, Mo., drew a picture of the two officers. Some of the cards came from people in jail -- people he put there. They wished him well, too.

"In the police department you're used to being the bad guy," May said.

He spent the day at the Cape Girardeau Police Department logging accident reports and tickets, filling a temporary gap in the traffic division. But he said he is physically ready to resume his normal duties on patrol. "I don't like it," he said of the desk job.

May and Moore went to the Super 8 Motel in Cape Girardeau that Saturday night on a tip from the SEMO Drug Task Force that methamphetamine was being produced in a room there. During their search of his room, 20-year-old Matthew Marsh shot May in the abdomen and Moore in the shoulder. Both officers' fired rounds that were fatal to Marsh.

A coroner's jury ruled the officers acted in self-defense.

May received a letter of apology from the parents of 27-year-old Jenna McDaniel, a woman who was with Marsh that night in the motel room. McDaniel's father is a reserve police officer. Jenna McDaniel is charged with possession of methamphetamine and possession of the materials to manufacture meth.

May has undergone physical therapy and counseling. Counselors took him back to the motel room and walked him through the event.

No time to think

Only their police training saved the officers' lives, he says. "It's split second. It's surviving. You don't have time to think."

In the wake of the shooting, A Back the Blue campaign raised money to pay for expenses not covered by workers' compensation. Wal-Mart donated $1,200 to the Cape Girardeau Police Department to buy two new bulletproof vests. May was wearing a 20-year-old vest the night of the shooting. The newer vests provide more coverage, he says.

"It's possible if I had been wearing a new one I wouldn't have been hit."

May's wife, Tammy, had the .380-caliber bullet that passed through his body framed as a memento of the experience. His 2-year-old daughter, Kate, was too young to understand what happened to him. He was concerned about his 4-year-old, Ryan, but says he is OK.

"They helped change my bandages," May said.

Everybody asks how it feels to be shot. One bullet hit Moore directly in a bone, so he was in immediate pain. May couldn't tell if he was hit. "It felt like someone just poked me with a finger," he said.

Surgeons removed part of his small intestine and patched his colon. The bullet shaved off part of a bone on its way through his body.

Moore still recuperating

Moore is still undergoing physical therapy and has not been able to return to duty. He does not yet have use of the arm injured in the shooting. Doctors say he must heal more before they can decide whether to remove the bullet.

Moore became May's shift sergeant when the force went to 12-hour shifts at the end of 2000. Going through the ordeal brought everyone -- police officers and families -- closer together.

Before going to work Monday, May took Moore to a therapy session. Moore's wife, Kim, was at the station Monday and told May his sister has been bringing the Moores homemade bread.

The experience of being shot and having to shoot someone teaches you that you don't want to go through it, he said.

"It's just sad. Brad is hurt. I'm hurt. The other subject is dead, just because of a drug."