Recently released officer dash and body cam shows just how perilous a life in law enforcement can be. Footage shows a routine stop turn decidedly deadly, with one officer from the Missouri-based Webster Groves Police Department, Brendan McGahan, now lucky to be alive.

Officer Brendan McGahan Survives Wild Attack

The incident occurred May 5 in Webster Groves, Mo., when officer McGahan pulled over to assist what he presumed to be a stranded motorist along Interstate 44, reported the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Footage shows McGahan approach the vehicle, motioning the driver to lower the window. Instead, 23-year-old Qavon Webb flings open the door, blasting away at McGahan. Just like that, in the blink of an eye. Yet somehow, someway, the officer found a way to win.

“It was frankly a miracle,” Chief Dale Curtis told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. “The whole thing is kind of surreal.”

But for those that walk the thin blue line each day, the footage paints a clear picture. This is the danger officers face daily.

“They will understand the possibilities for danger even on routine calls, which is what this was supposed to be,” Curtis said.

Webb shot McGahan six times in rapid succession, according to police. McGahan took the first shot to the chest, his body armor stopping the round, reported the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. After the first bullet seemingly knocked McGahan down, more followed. The officer took rounds to the hand, arm, and leg, along with multiple vest strikes.

McGahan Fights Back

Inexplicably, the suspect appears to then go for the officer’s gun. After a quick struggle on the ground, McGahan manages to get his gun into the fight, unleashing a roaring volley of return fire. Footage shows the supsect finally drop.

“We reviewed this incident mainly from the video and everything we’ve seen, everything he did was appropriate,” Curtis said. “He followed proper procedures. The video speaks for itself.”

The officer then radioed for help and applied a tourniquet to his own bleeding arm, reported the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Ultimately, he remains extremely lucky to be alive.

“I have no fault with the way he handled it,” Curtis told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. “He just thought he was going to assist a motorist. He was motioning with his hand to ask the guy to roll down his window, to ask him what the problem was.”