Deputy is 'in awe' of support

By Harold J. Adams
hjadams@courier-journal.com
The Courier-Journal

Wounded Floyd County Sheriff's Deputy Joel White said he's "just been in awe" of the outpouring of community support since he and fellow Deputy Frank Denzinger were shot on June 18.

White spoke publicly yesterday for the first time since the attack, which killed Denzinger and left White with a shattered left hip.

Both officers were shot by 15-year-old Tyler Dumstorf as they responded to a report of an unruly teenager at the Dumstorf home on Rachel Court in Georgetown. The teen later fatally shot himself.

White spoke at a Salem car dealership, where he was presented with a new van that will help him get around during his recovery. The van was made possible through fundraising coordinated by the Floyd County Fraternal Order of Police Lodge and a discount from dealer John Jones GMC City.

The seven-passenger Chevrolet Uplander van will fill in for the Dodge Neon compact car that has been the only vehicle in a household that includes White, his wife and two daughters, his sister-in-law and his mother-in-law.

"So that van is amazing," White said. "That's been something that we've needed and we never thought that we'd have something like that."

Surrounding White were more than 200 motorcyclists who took part in a 120-mile fundraising ride that began yesterday morning at Indiana University Southeast in New Albany and traveled to New Salisbury and French Lick before ending up in Salem.

Read more on Officer White's recovery at the Courier - Journal.