PITTSBURGH — Not a day goes by that Pittsburgh police officer Dan Mead doesn’t think about the 11 people who were shot and killed at the Tree of Life Synagogue two years ago.

Mead and his partner were the first officers to arrive at the synagogue in Squirrel Hill.

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“We were standing there waiting for roll call and the call came in and it was just one of those odd ones. When you hear 20 to 30 shots fired down at the Tree of Life Synagogue. Normally you hear one shot fired but when they said that, I said, ‘My God that’s right down the street.’ Both of us bounced out of the station, got in the car and a block and half two blocks, we got out,” Mead told Channel 11′s Rick Earle during an exclusive interview.

As they approached the building, it was quiet, but Mead and his partner saw a man outside. They asked him where the shooter was, and he pointed to the synagogue.

Mead said his training kicked in.

“Hug the building and go down there and we hit the corner and you’re supposed to take a look. As soon as I stepped out, game changer. I turned the corner. As soon as I stepped out, there comes the gunfire,” Mead said.

Mead was rushed to the hospital with a gunshot wound to his left hand. He had no idea what had happened inside the synagogue just minutes earlier, that 11 innocent people who had gathered to worship had been shot and killed, until the next day.

“Oh, I cried like a little baby in my hospital bed because I had no clue, plus the others who got wounded and even the ones in there. Can you imagine how that feels being trapped down in the basement,” Mead said.

After an intense gunbattle in which several officers and the suspect, Robert Bowers, were wounded, police took Bowers into custody. He’s awaiting federal trial on 11 counts of murder and hate crime charges.

Hailed as Heroes

In the days and weeks that followed, Mead, his partner and other officers were hailed as heroes. Mead even met with President Donald Trump when Trump paid a visit to Pittsburgh days after the shootings.

“From what I understand, I guess he (the suspect) was coming out the door and we popped up and then he ran back inside or stayed inside. He never came out,” Mead said.

“And you and your partner have been credited with containing him in the building so he wouldn’t go out and somewhere else and commit more atrocities?” Earle asked.

“Well, from what I understand yes, but I mean, it’s just, we happened to be the first ones there because we were two blocks away. Everything worked out the way I guess it should have worked out,” said Mead.

Over the past two years, Mead has received dozens of cards and letters of support, and he’s kept all of them.

Earle asked, “What does that say? Thank you for being a hero?”

Mead responded, “Yeah, that’s pretty cool.”

Mead has also received medals, plaques and awards for valor that he keeps on display in his home, but he doesn’t consider himself a hero.

“No, no. I wasn’t a hero. Just a guy doing his job,” said Mead.

Second Career on the Force

The 57-year-old joined the force at the age of 43 after a career as a carpenter. He was influenced by his father who was also a Pittsburgh police officer.

“It’s something I always wanted to do. I wanted to be a baseball player or a policeman. I tried for baseball and (it) wasn’t working out,” Mead said.

The father of three grown children spent more than a decade as a patrol officer in Squirrel Hill.

This was the first time he had been shot at, and as a reminder of that day, he kept the exact uniform he was wearing.

The Road to Recovery

Mead has been through several surgeries and rehabilitation on his left hand.

“It’s doing all right. That’s the best grip I can get now. That’s the way it goes,” Mead said.

He’s thankful he still has full use of his right hand and is hopeful that he’ll be able to return to the force one day.

Mead calls his time as a police officer some of the “best days” of his life, and he knows what happened to him on that Saturday morning two years ago could have been worse.

“From what I understand, I mean four feet away, get shot at ten times through the glass and only get clipped once. Pretty fortunate. I wouldn’t say, ‘Oh woe is me.’ No. That’s the way it is. Deal with it. I’m still here. What do I got to complain about,” Mead said?

Mead told Earle he also wanted to thank all the people who have supported him over the past two years. He said he couldn’t have made it without the support of his family, and those he doesn’t even know, like the Jewish congregation in Illinois that planted a tree in his honor.

Police officer wounded in Tree of Life shooting shares his story two years later (part 2)

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