Six years after the mass shooting, the wounded Santa Fe ISD police officer is still fighting for benefits

Former Santa Fe ISD police officer John Barnes was critically injured during the mass shooting at Santa Fe High School on May 18, 2018. Barnes was the first officer to confront the gunman and was struck by a shotgun blast that ruptured an artery in his arm.

Barnes had to be resuscitated twice on the day of the shooting, and that arm has permanent damage. The injuries forced Barnes to medically retire from the county police force. Barnes said he assumed he would receive medical disability, but later learned that was not the case. Barnes had only been with the Santa Fe ISD police force for four months when he was shot. He joined the department after retiring from the Houston Police Department.

Barnes said he learned he had not worked with the Santa Fe ISD police long enough to be eligible for disability benefits. Santa Fe ISD Police participate in the Teacher Retirement System, which requires employees to work for five years before being accepted into the program.

Barnes is also still waiting to hear whether he will be eligible for a federal benefit.

KPRC 2 Investigates reporter Robert Arnold has the full story on Barnes on KPRC 2 at 6 p.m

SIX YEARS AGO

We have followed John Barnes’ journey over the last six years.

He played a big role in our documentary in our series, “The Evidence Room,” telling what happened that morning at the high school. It was the last Friday of the school year and he was in his office when problems were first brought to his attention. You can hear the full story of that day told in our documentary, The Evidence Room: The Long Hallway.

RELATED: The Evidence Room: The long hallway

RELATED: Sunday conversations with Santa Fe ISD Officer John Barnes

Just last week, the civil trial related to the mass shooting at Santa Fe High School was postponed. It should start at the end of this month. The families’ lawyers argued that they wanted to see the criminal files. This case has stalled because Dimitrios Pagourtzis remains unfit to stand trial.

July 29th is the new hearing date for the civil lawsuit.