Shot cop returns to work Officer says he's glad to be back

The officer was back on duty eight days after being shot.
By JEANNE STARMACK
VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER
AUSTINTOWN -- For a man who got shot in the chest a week ago, Patrolman Joe Wojciak doesn't appear to be all that fazed.
It was the end of his shift Wednesday afternoon, his first day of work since the shooting, and the 25-year police department veteran was looking forward to getting out of there -- but he still had his reports to do.
"Aw!" he said, slapping his forehead with his hands when it was suddenly clear to him that a member of the press was eyeing him up him for a sit-down talk.
He's gotten a lot of attention since the morning of May 8, when he was shot in the parking lot of the Kmart on Mahoning Avenue. The press crowded into his room afterward at the St. Elizabeth Health Center emergency outpost in Austintown, filming, snapping pictures and wanting his story.
Now, he said, he's looking forward to his normal routine. He agreed to take 10 minutes, though, to talk about the days since those strange events of May 8 and his first day back at work.
The day, he said, was pretty uneventful.
He didn't go back to the Kmart, though normally, he said, he doesn't go there anyway.
He made an arrest -- of someone who's accused of passing a bad check at a bank.
Went to court
It didn't feel weird to him at all, he said, even when he went to county court for the man accused of the shooting's request for a psychological evaluation. It didn't bother him to see Carlton Sims, the 22-year-old Boardman man whom police say shot Wojciak as he sat in his cruiser doing paperwork about 7 a.m.
Wojciak's bulletproof vest saved him from serious harm, and he chased his attacker. He and other officers whom he'd called for backup caught Sims on Melrose Avenue.
Police have questioned Sims, but said they're still puzzled about a motive for the shooting. He remains in the county jail on 1 million bond.
Wojciak said he hasn't tried to talk to Sims, and Sims has not tried to talk to him.
In the days after the shooting, Wojciak took time off. He and his youngest daughter, Amanda, who lives in Austintown, went to Cincinnati to visit his oldest daughter, Tiffany Stamm, and his son-in-law, Neil.
He got medical clearance for returning to work -- a possible hairline fracture in his collarbone was the only physical repercussion he suffered.
He got counseling, as did everyone in the police department who was on duty that morning.
But Wojciak doesn't expect to have any psychological fallout from his experience.
"I wasn't having any nightmares, anxiety attacks or anything," he said.
In fact, he said, police are trained to accept that situations like his could happen.
"It's just a part of this job -- on any given day, things could go wrong." He's just glad, he said, that someone else wasn't shot.
During his time off, he never thought twice about being a cop, he said. Yes, he assured, he's glad to be back.
starmack@vindy.com