BATON ROUGE, Louisiana – East Baton Rouge Sheriff’s Deputy Nick Tullier has been in a coma for over 90 days since he was shot in the head on July 17. Tullier was shot by a Black Lives Matter-sympathizer who went on police officer killing spree.
Tullier was originally called to the scene of an anti-police shooting when killer Gavin Long ambushed three Baton Rouge police officers, Montrell Jackson, Brad Garafola and Matthew Gerald, ultimately killing them.
When he arrived, Tullier was the first respondent to the ambush, where Long eventually emerged from a wooded area and shot a multiple bullets into the 41 year-old’s head, leaving him with significant brain stem damage, his family reported.
Now, Tullier family is simply longing to see their beloved husband, father and son recover from the tragedy.
“We feel he is listening to us,” Tullier’s father, James Tullier told CNN in an interview. “He’ll open his right eye at times,” Tullier says. “Sometimes it looks like he is looking at you, sometimes it looks like he is looking into space.”
In Tullier’s hospital room is a statue of St. Michael, the patron saint of law enforcement officers, along with his family and friends, which includes his two sons and fiancé.
“What’s going to happen in the future,” Tullier’s son, 18 year-old Trent asked. “Like am I still going to have a father that is going to be able to have conversations with me? Will we still be able to hang out together and just chat? I have no clue.”
Tullier’s fiancé, Danielle McNicoll has remained by his side since he was put in the hospital following the anit-police ambush.
McNicoll told CNN she is hopeful about Tullier’s recovery, saying he is gradually responding to family and friends, all of whom feel confident about the beloved officer’s comeback.
“You can definitely tell that he can hear when we are talking to him,” McNicoll said. “A lot of times he’ll open his right eye, he moved his head, he moved his toes. He’s there. It takes a lot out of him. Medically he should not be here, and he is.”
“[His family and friends] have really high hopes for Nick,” McNicoll continued. “They see in his charts and his progress that God willing he can make a hundred-percent recovery.”
Editor’s Note: This article has been updated with additional information.
John Binder is a contributor for Breitbart Texas. Follow him on Twitter at @JxhnBinder.