Tallahassee police officer who was shot reflects on harrowing night, praises peers

Distinct details of the night are "kind of fuzzy" for the rookie Tallahassee police officer who was shot last year, but the memory of the fear and danger is something he and his colleagues will never forget.

On Sept. 25, Officer Caleb Babb was shot and injured after responding to what authorities now call a drug-related home invasion robbery at an apartment complex off West Tharpe Street.

Six months later, the 23-year-old officer spoke in a video TPD posted on social media.

"I think in their case they did so much, that they went above and beyond to keep me alive to get me to the people that can get me to be better," Babb said of his squad who helped him that night.

The video intertwines snippets from an interview with Babb, sound from the 911 call that evening and glimpses of Babb's body camera footage from the incident.

In his interview, Babb praised his colleagues for all they did to save him. Not everyone gets as lucky as he did, he said, and he has them to thank.

An officer is heard in the body camera footage praying over him as she tries to stop the bleeding from his leg: "God, we need you," she said. "We need you right here. God, touch Babb. We can't do it on our own, Lord."

A month after the shooting, the Tallahassee Democrat sat down with Babb, who asked to remain anonymous while he recovered, for an exclusive Zoom interview. He told the Democrat that officers are trained for these worst-case-scenario moments, and he truly felt his training kick in that night.

More: Rookie Tallahassee police officer had only one thing on his mind after being shot

In the released body camera footage, Babb is seen applying a tourniquet to his blood-covered leg immediately after being shot before other officers come to help.

"You can't help others if you're down for the count," Babb said in TPD's video. "So I knew I had to kind of fix whatever this was, and then I can go back to work."

Throughout the entire recovery process, Babb said in the video that everyone at TPD has been the best support system. "We're not just acquaintances. We don't just work together, we're brothers and sisters," he said.

At TPD, they are "also family," he said, and they all rely on each other.

"Now I need to recover. I want to get back to work," he said. "I know that's a weird thought to have. I get shot and now I'm like, 'Hey, I really want to go back to work.' "

Breaking & trending news reporter Elena Barrera can be reached at ebarrera@tallahassee.com. Follow her on X: @elenabarreraaa.

This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: Tallahassee police officer who was shot reflects on harrowing night