A day after law enforcement officers avoided serious injuries from a hail of gunfire, the Lake Wales police chief said he is thankful the incident ended without any deaths.
Lake Wales Police Chief Chris Velasquez said Wednesday during a news conference that officers John Schwarze and Benjamin Metz will recover and that it is a miracle more law enforcement officers were not injured.
Velasquez said 59-year-old Lake Wales resident John Goepferich called 911 late Tuesday afternoon to his Hillside Avenue home and when officers arrived, he began firing gunshots at them.
"Right now, we're just very thankful no other officers were injured," Velasquez said. "We're thankful that the officers that were shot have been released (from the hospital) and are going to recover.
"Our thoughts and prayers are with all of the law enforcement officers' families."
Velasquez said Goepferich fired his 9 mm handgun at a total of 12 law enforcement officers. During the gun battle, Officer Schwarze was struck in the belt while another had bullets strike his cruiser. Officer Metz, meanwhile, suffered a wound to the back of his neck.
Goepferich, who was shot twice, is expected to face 12 counts of attempted murder.
An investigation determined Goepferich has two adult children who work in law enforcement with the Polk County Sheriff's Office. One of Goepferich's son is a deputy and the other works in the Sheriff's Office's IT department.
Authorities said Goepferich has not said what his motive was. Velasquez said Goepferich sent his wife to the grocery store on an errand before calling 911.
"I'm very proud of everybody," Velasquez said of all of the officers involved. "I hail them as heroes that they ran toward that gunfire and they stopped it."