LAPD Honoring Officer Shot in North Hollywood Shootout

It's the type of day that could not only end a career, but also a life. 

Luckily, no one other than the two perpetrators were killed in the 1997 North Hollywood Shootout, but former LAPD Officer Martin Whitfeld did suffer several wounds in the line of duty.

Now, the police department is looking to honor the retired Whitfield, who now lives in Indiana, with the Purple Heart, according to FOX 59.

"I know a lot of the training I went through, my military background helped me stay cool headed but when it came down to it, the last thing I did was open my mouth and pray,” he told the network.

On Feb. 28, 1997, Larry Phillips Jr and Emil Mătăsăreanu robbed a local Bank of America branch followed by a gun battle with police. Both men were killed.

Whitfield was shot four times: in the left arm, left buttock, right thigh and under his right arm, according to a LA Times story published six months after the shooting. 

""Even though I was in a dangerous job, I just didn't expect to ever be so broken and broken down," Whitfield, who was 30 at the time, told the publication. ""There's a gap between my love for that kind of work and putting that badge back on, which would mean that I would be willing to go through the same thing again," Whitfield said, sitting in the living room of his Van Nuys home. "I ask myself that question. Would I? Absolutely not."

Click here to read more of his interview with the times.