BY CARRIE HODOUSEK
The father of State Police Trooper Abe Bean said his son is doing “remarkably well” following surgery to remove part of his left leg after being shot while trying to serve an arrest warrant Sunday night in Martinsburg.
Bean’s father Brian Bean, a retired State Police trooper, stood by his son’s hospital bed Wednesday to discuss his son’s condition on MetroNews “Talkline.”
“We’re talking with him. He’s drinking some ginger ale right now. It’s been a miracle,” Bean said while visiting his son at a hospital in Fairfax, Va.
Bean remains in stable condition after being shot four times: once in the chest, once in the shoulder and twice in the leg.
State Police Maj. Jim Mitchell previously told MetroNews there was a lot of blood loss.
A second trooper Cadin Spessert suffered a single gunshot wound and has been released from the hospital.
Bean and Spessert went to a home on Connell Street in Martinsburg at around 10:50 p.m. Sunday to serve an arrest warrant for Tobias Ganey. Ganey, 60, had been fighting with his neighbor and allegedly hit him. Bean investigated and told Ganey he would be charged with misdemeanor battery. When Ganey refused to come out of his home, troopers went in and Ganey fired at them. Troopers returned fire and killed Ganey.
Brian Bean posted a message on Facebook that said his son’s first surgery lasted for eight hours from 6 a.m. to 2 p.m. Monday. The amputation came after that.
Bean said dozens of West Virginia troopers and state police from Virginia have been at the hospital to show support for his son during the holiday season.
“The West Virginia State Police have people coming here watching over my son and helping him. I really appreciate it. The Virginia State Police just actually put up a Christmas tree in his room,” he said.
Local police in Fairfax, Va., have also been stepping up with small tasks, Bean said.
“The Fairfax Police have people here watching Abe. He wanted some lemons, of all things, to put in his water and they went out and got him some lemons,” he said.
About 100 people attended a prayer service at the Virginia hospital where Bean is on Monday.
Mitchell provided an update Wednesday, saying in a statement, “Trooper Bean is now doing well and pushing forward to complete recovery. Please continue to keep both Trooper Spessert and Trooper Bean in your prayers.”
The investigation into the shooting continues.
