Purple Heart honors officer shot by another in burglary

The bullet is still lodged in his right leg.
WARREN -- A police officer wounded when he was accidentally shot by another police officer at a burglary scene more than three years ago received his Purple Heart and certificate of merit Thursday.
Patrolman Benjamin Harrell was shot in the left leg June 10, 2002, after responding to a burglary in progress at a residence in the 700 block of Austin Avenue Southwest.
The bullet, which caused life-threatening injuries, then lodged in his right leg, where it remains. Doctors left the bullet there because they concluded that removing it would cause more damage than leaving it, Harrell said.
"Congratulations, and hopefully you'll never face that again," Police Chief John Mandopoulos said of the shooting as he presented the Purple Heart to Harrell.
Safety-Service Director William "Doug" Franklin presented Harrell with a certificate of appreciation and commendation.
What happened
"Our guys are good guys. There are a lot of good officers here. Anything can happen," Harrell said of the shooting. Harrell said the officer who fired mistook him for a burglar in the dark.
"It was an unfortunate accident," Harrell added.
Harrell, who had been assigned to a security detail for Trumbull Metropolitan Housing Authority, was taken to Forum Health Trumbull Memorial Hospital in a police car after he was shot. Harrell said he still feels some pain "when the weather changes."
The two officers were among those who responded when a neighbor reported seeing two men break into a two-story home shortly before midnight.
A police officer saw a suspect in the house with a gun in his hand, Mandopoulos said at the time.
Two 19-year-old men were arrested on aggravated burglary charges in the house, and a gun was recovered in the house. Harrell, an officer since 1998, said the handgun was left behind by one of the burglars.