Police officer who was shot has three Purple Hearts

A Centerville police officer who was shot Friday on a domestic call was injured by bombs three times while serving in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Cpl. Jeremy Mashuga, originally from Cambridge, Minnesota, spoke about his Army service at a Houston County Commission meeting July 5. He was a scout and three times was struck by improvised explosive devices, which earned him three Purple Hearts.

He was struck the third time on Christmas Eve of 2010.

"At that time they were like, OK, you're done," he said when recounting the story at the commission meeting.

The commission had invited him to the meeting to lead the Pledge of Allegiance and talk about his service.

After the third bombing he was reassigned to Fort Benning in Columbus to train new lieutenants, then in a routine physical he was found to have too much hearing loss and was given a desk job. After 13 years of service he then left to become a police officer.

Mashuga, who has served on the Centerville force for two years, was shot in the abdomen at about 10 p.m. Friday. He was responding to a call from a neighbor of yelling at a home on Jeanette Place.

City officials have said he is doing well and is expected to recover.

A suspect, Perry Baggett, 45, was arrested early Saturday after a 9-hour standoff and charged with aggravated assault on a police officer.

This story was originally published April 29, 2018 at 10:29 AM with the headline "Police officer who was shot has three Purple Hearts."