Photo: Corporal Kevin Holtry; source KBOI
Corporal Kevin Holtry was shot several times during a manhunt in November. He was left paralyzed from the waist down and his left leg had to be amputated, according to a KTVB news report.
On November 11, 2016, Cpl. Holtry and Cpl. Chris Davis, another member of the Special Operations Unit of the Boise Police Department were searching a neighborhood for felon Marco Romero.
Romero had just been released from prison and had fired shots during inside an apartment during a party a few days earlier.
Cpl. Holtry and other members of Boise PD were searching yard-to-yard for Romero: “We knew he was bad, we knew he was armed. We were looking for him, and we found him,” Holtry said.
When he was found hiding behind trash cans outside a residence, a gun battle erupted.
Romero was shot and killed.
A police K9, Jardo was shot and later died.
Corporal Davis was shot through the leg and released from the hospital days later.
However, Corporal Holtry suffered more extensive injuries.
Holtry reported that his “…spinal cord isn’t completely severed—maybe bruised.” Holtry is paralyzed from “about the belly-button down” he said.
And speaking publicly for the first time since the incident, the 17-year police veteran explained that his left leg had to be amputated above the knee. Yet Holtry remains hopeful as he will soon begin an intensive rehabilitation program.
Boise Police Deputy Chief Eugene Smith said Holtry’s “…fight, his drive, his will to recover has been nothing short of inspirational to every individual who had the opportunity to visit with him or talk to him over these last few weeks.”
Deputy Chief Smith did not speculate about Holtry’s future with Boise PD, but emphasized that, “Kevin Holtry is a Boise police officer, will be a Boise police officer, and we intend to keep him as a Boise police officer as long as he desires.”
