LMPD officer shot during narcotics investigation identified

LOUISVILLE, KY (WAVE) - It wasn't his time to go.

LMPD Officer Darrell Hyche was struck in the head by a bullet during a drug sting. He was doing a job that almost cost him his life.

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But this isn't the first time the sacrifice of wearing a badge has weighed heavily on Hyche.

"This is where is gets rough because that second victim looks just like my daughter, and I was thinking my daughter's laying there on the ground," he said in court.

Hyche broke down on the stand over the lives of two little girls he tried to save. It was 2008 when Hyche tried to pull Kenielle Finch over. Finch fled, hitting and killing Claudia Wadlington, 5, and Riley Lawrence, 4.

On the stand Hyche remembered seeing the little girls and immediately running to their aid.

"Brian was like, I don't have a pulse and I was like, I don't have a pulse," he said.

Fast forward to Thursday afternoon, when others ran to his aid. Police closed off roads as his ambulance rushed to the hospital. Then came a sea of red and blue as his colleagues arrived.

Other officers told WAVE 3 News Reporter Natalia Martinez that Hyche is one of the best. They say the community is lucky to still have him around.

LMPD Lieutenant Aaron Crowell confirmed that Hyche was released from the hospital Friday afternoon.