By Suzie Ziegler
OAKLAND, Calif. — Doctors aren’t sure exactly how many times retired police captain Ersie Joyner was shot.
“They can’t tell me how many times I was shot because many of them are through-and-through wounds,” Joyner told KTVU in his first interview since surviving a barrage of bullets. “I’m just happy to be alive. I thought I was going to die several times.”
Joyner was mugged in October while pumping gas. Four men with handguns approached him, grabbed his necklace and wallet, and threatened to shoot him. Joyner, who had retired two years earlier from the Oakland Police Department, was carrying a Glock 43.
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“I immediately started thinking to myself about contingency plans,” Joyner recalled. Joyner said he was cooperating, but when one of the men said, “shoot him and steal his truck,” he decided it was time to act. Joyner fired off 10 rounds, killing one of the men. The suspects returned fire, hitting Joyner nine or 10 times, he believes.
Joyner waited on the concrete, filled with lead, for police. Officers arrived quickly. According to KTVU, Joyner believes ShotSpotter gunshot detection technology played a role in getting police to the scene fast.
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In the hospital, Dr. Timothy Browder knew that mortality rates are high for patients with so many gunshot wounds. But he believed Joyner would make it. When Joyner asked to Browder to tell his family he loved them before the surgery, Browder said, “You’re going to tell them yourself.”
Joyner was released from the hospital nine days later.
“They patched me up and I’m back to new,” he said. Joyner is back at the gym, working out with a trainer. He told KTVU the only thing that really hurts now is his pinky finger which stiffens up in the cold. Joyner might be walking again, but he hasn’t completely healed.
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“Becoming a gunshot victim and being at the other end of a robbery and a shooting was traumatizing,” he said. “I’ve always thought that I was invincible. I got humbled and humanized on that day on October 21. That’s for sure.”
Joyner says he’s now hyper-vigilant while running errands – at gas stations, car washes and grocery stores. He wishes the incident had never happened, but he doesn’t regret how he handled it.
“I stand behind everything I did,” he said, referencing the man he killed. The District Attorney is not pursuing charges against Joyner under the “provocative act doctrine,” which allows a crime victim to use “justifiable lethal force,” according to KTVU.
Now, Joyner says he’s sharing his story to inspire others.
“You have to fight for your life,” Joyner said. “You have to be a survivor.”
The three suspects were charged with second-degree robbery and murder.