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Wife of deputy shot 8 times heard the gunshots and tried to reach him

It's been almost a month since Pct 4 Deputy Christopher Gaines was gunned down while responding to a call in Atascocita, and for the first time, his wife, who heard the gunshots, is sharing her side of the story.

It’s been almost a month since Pct 4 Deputy Christopher Gaines was gunned down while responding to a call in Atascocita, and for the first time, his wife, who heard the gunshots, is sharing her side of the story.

RELATED: Deputy Gaines shares his story after being shot 8 times

Gaines was responding to a call in the Eagle Springs subdivision, which happens to be near his home.

“It was a call about a man who was on the phone with the suicide crisis hotline,” Deputy Gaines said. “He came out of his front door and started shooting.”

Investigators say Wesley Adam Smith was drinking, taking pills and armed with a shotgun when he started shooting at deputies. Gaines rushed forward to try to stop him and suffered eight gunshot wounds in his right leg.

“I kept thinking about grabbing my radio and just saying, ‘Please tell my family that I love them.’”

Deputy Gaines’ wife, Linda, was sleeping in their nearby home when the shot jolted her awake. Startled and worried, she grabbed her phone and texted her husband to make sure he was OK.

Her phone shows that starting at 2:26 a.m. on April 17, she texted, “There’s a shooting," followed by, “It sounds awful.”

Then, “Like 25 times.”

Her final text was just several questions marks.

Deputy Gaines wasn’t able to answer because he was being rushed to the hospital and didn’t have his phone.

“Just praying and waiting to hear back from him,” Linda Gaines said as she described him not responding to her texts and call, “trying to calm down.”

Twenty minutes later, police officers knocked on Linda Gaines’s door.

“They just told me, ‘Listen, you’ve got to put your shoes on, and we’ve got to go, because Chris just got shot.’ I just felt numb. I just couldn’t believe what was happening. It took me some time to process the information.”

Amazingly all eight wounds missed his arteries and Linda was able conscious and able to see her husband before his first surgery.

“Relieved that he was alive,” Linda Gaines said. “Just to see that he was still breathing and being able to hold his hand again.”

Nearly a month later, they look at life differently.

“Facing it… it changes it to where you know, that much more intimately, how quick it can change,” Deputy Gaines said about death.

However, his commitment to the thin blue line hasn’t wavered.

“I’ve never thought about not going back. It’s obvious that God doesn’t think it’s my time, and I still more work to do," Deputy Gaines said.

Meanwhile, although she will continue to pray for his safety, Linda Gaines supports his desire to return to work.

“(I’ll pray) for God to protect him and to protect us all, because when you marry someone into law enforcement you are in it, too.”

Deputy Gaines continues to recover and is scheduled to start physical therapy on Tuesday, which is two weeks earlier than expected. He still has metal in his leg from the bullet and is dealing with numbness and pain. Although he hasn’t been able to walk on it, he hopes physical therapy will correct that.

Moving forward there will probably be long-term expenses that the force won’t be able to cover, so the department has set up a fundraiser to help the Gaines family. It will take place from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Wednesday at the Humble Civic Center. The public is invited to stop by and purchase a BBQ lunch for $10.

There has also been a GoFundMe account established to help the family.

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