An Update On Officer Veenstra, As Promised. Prognosis: Good!

Wounded SWAT team officer recovering after shot to jaw
By Susan Abram, Staff Writer
Article Last Updated: 02/08/2008 12:33:45 AM PST

NORTHRIDGE - As they grieved for one member of the elite SWAT unit on Thursday, hundreds of officers with the Los Angeles Police Department rushed to the hospital bedside of another fallen comrade who had taken a gunshot to the jaw but was expected to survive.
The bullet pierced Officer James Veenstra, 51, just below his lower lip as he entered a Winnetka home where a 20-year-old gunman had killed three people and eventually was shot to death by police.
Veenstra was rushed to Northridge Hospital Medical Center, where he underwent three hours of surgery to remove bullet fragments that shattered bone and teeth.
"The projectile, with all of its kinetic energy, crashed into his left lower jaw," said trauma surgeon Dr. Gabriel Aslanian.
Had the bullet traveled further, it could have pierced a major artery or brainstem, Aslanian added.
"He was very fortunate," he said, adding that Veenstra was alert, oriented and responsive after surgery. He likely will undergo more surgery that could include bone grafts, Aslanian said.
Michelle Veenstra, commanding officer of the LAPD's Central Division, sat at her husband's bedside all morning, leaving only briefly to stop at their Northridge home to change clothes, before returning. She told reporters her husband was doing well, thanks to painkillers.
"He's exactly what we expect a police officer to be," she told KCBS (Channel 2). "Honor and integrity and strength. And he puts his life down on a daily basis for all of Los Angeles, people he knows and people he doesn't know."
While Veenstra rested inside the Intensive Care Unit at the hospital, his partner, Officer Randal Simmons, 51, died about 1 a.m., a few minutes after entering the home in the 19800 block of Welby Way.
Their colleagues reflected on both men, repeatedly hailing them as trustworthy leaders and mentors. Both had been with the SWAT unit for 20 years. Both had received commendations, Simmons recently with a Crystal Angel Award for "outstanding community service" and Veenstra with the Medal of Valor in 1999 for heroism during a fatal shootout in Chatsworth in 1997, when a gunman killed Glendale police Detective Charles Lazzaretto.
Inside the hospital, visitors described seeing dozens of officers clad in SWAT uniforms gather in almost every corner of the hallways to express grief.
But as officers came back from their visit, some felt a little better knowing Veenstra, nicknamed "Jimmy," seemed in good spirits.
"We came in and he took my hand and squeezed it," said Sgt. Richard Rakitis, who served in SWAT for 12 years and knew both men.
Rakitis called Veenstra a true outdoorsman, who excels in hockey, fishing, mountain climbing and any other sport he puts his mind to.
"He's what I'd call a Renaissance man," he said. "He can speak all these languages. He's good at everything."
susan.abram@dailynews.com 818-713-3664

Article extracted from online Daily News. -SDRoads