VOLUSIA COUNTY, Fla. — Volusia County Deputy Jose Rivera is home recovering with his family after being shot in the line of duty Monday.
He was flown from Halifax Hospital in Daytona Beach to Dewey Boster Park in Deltona in the sheriff’s helicopter.
Sheriff Chitwood told us riding in the chopper was actually a dream of Rivera’s and the only time he got to do it was on his way to the hospital, so the sheriff made sure he got to do it again.
Deputy Rivera was joined by his wife and three kids as he rode through a crowd of law enforcement and local leaders to the caravan that would take him home. Waiting for him at the end of the line were deputies from the Bravo shift who worked with him the night he was shot.
Sheriff Chitwood said Rivera’s homecoming is the first step in healing.
“That’s going to be the easy part, right? To heal, physically you’re going to heal. It’s mentally. When you met with the deputies one on one and you can see it in their face and you talk to the deputies that drug him away from the gun fire. Who is applying the tourniquette, even the air one flight crew that got him stable and flew him to Halifax,” said Chitwood.
Rivera and his family weren’t ready for interviews, but he made sure to express appreciation to everyone who helped keep him alive.
Deputy Ethan Thomas started at the sheriff’s office the same time as Rivera and works with him in Deltona. Thomas was also shot while responding to a standoff in 2023.
“It’s pretty crappy odds but looking at what could have happened and especially after seeing the body camera footage and how close we and this job can come to that is you know and then seeing this, just so grateful that he is alright,” said Thomas.
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