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Frisco detective has recovered from gunshot wounds and returned to work
By Penny Rathbun, Staff writer
Frisco Police Detective Leah Apple is back at work full time after being shot in the line of duty in October 2004.
She was shot in the process of apprehending a homicide suspect in Sherman. She and other police officers were attempting to locate suspect Charles Anthony Owen in connection with the death of Tamara Jobes, 18 of The Colony. Jobes was found in the early morning hours between railroad tracks on the border of Frisco and The Colony.
Apple, then 36, was listed in critical but stable condition after undergoing surgery for extensive damage to her right hip.
She then spent months in rehabilitation. She said she was wearing a protective vest at the time, but she said the vest would not have stopped the caliber of high powered bullets he was using.
She said she’s not sure how long it was after she was shot, but officers found Owen in his apartment dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
Apple came back to work on light duty in March 2005. She was still using a walker and she eventually progressed to a cane.
About midway through her recovery her hip came out of joint, she fell and stopped herself with her right hand. That caused an injury to her arm and shoulder and then she had to do physical therapy on her arm and shoulder as well as her hip.
“I remember wondering how long it would take me to get back to work,” she said.
Apple said she had a little fear returning to work full time, but mostly she was glad to get back to work.
Although she had to tell the story of her injury in detail as part of her recovery process, she said she has no lingering fear from the experience, especially now that she is back on full duty.
She had spent more than a decade as a police dispatcher before she took the training to be a police officer. She said she got into it because she only heard part of the cases in her job as a dispatcher. She wanted to see the rest of what was going on.
She now deals with family violence and crimes against children.
One of the things that kept her busy during her convalescence was the fact that she was taking several college courses at the time of her injury, so she had plenty of time to work on those.
“My boyfriend was a big part of my recovery,” she said. He is also in law enforcement, but she declined to give his name. One thing she wanted to correct was that many of the news stories about her after she was shot said that she had a fiancé, but that was inaccurate she said. She doesn’t know where that misinformation came from.
She was the first Frisco police officer to be shot in the line of duty.
“I appreciate the way the city has taken care of me the last 2 and ˝ years,” she said. “And I appreciate the citizens who asked how the detective who got shot was. Now I’m just trying to move on.”
She was shot in the process of apprehending a homicide suspect in Sherman. She and other police officers were attempting to locate suspect Charles Anthony Owen in connection with the death of Tamara Jobes, 18 of The Colony. Jobes was found in the early morning hours between railroad tracks on the border of Frisco and The Colony.
Apple, then 36, was listed in critical but stable condition after undergoing surgery for extensive damage to her right hip.
She then spent months in rehabilitation. She said she was wearing a protective vest at the time, but she said the vest would not have stopped the caliber of high powered bullets he was using.
She said she’s not sure how long it was after she was shot, but officers found Owen in his apartment dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
Apple came back to work on light duty in March 2005. She was still using a walker and she eventually progressed to a cane.
About midway through her recovery her hip came out of joint, she fell and stopped herself with her right hand. That caused an injury to her arm and shoulder and then she had to do physical therapy on her arm and shoulder as well as her hip.
“I remember wondering how long it would take me to get back to work,” she said.
Apple said she had a little fear returning to work full time, but mostly she was glad to get back to work.
Although she had to tell the story of her injury in detail as part of her recovery process, she said she has no lingering fear from the experience, especially now that she is back on full duty.
She had spent more than a decade as a police dispatcher before she took the training to be a police officer. She said she got into it because she only heard part of the cases in her job as a dispatcher. She wanted to see the rest of what was going on.
She now deals with family violence and crimes against children.
One of the things that kept her busy during her convalescence was the fact that she was taking several college courses at the time of her injury, so she had plenty of time to work on those.
“My boyfriend was a big part of my recovery,” she said. He is also in law enforcement, but she declined to give his name. One thing she wanted to correct was that many of the news stories about her after she was shot said that she had a fiancé, but that was inaccurate she said. She doesn’t know where that misinformation came from.
She was the first Frisco police officer to be shot in the line of duty.
“I appreciate the way the city has taken care of me the last 2 and ˝ years,” she said. “And I appreciate the citizens who asked how the detective who got shot was. Now I’m just trying to move on.”
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