A decade after surviving a near-fatal shooting, Officer Pearce reflects on faith and resilience, continuing his service with renewed purpose.

FORT WORTH, Texas — Ten years after surviving multiple gunshot wounds in a shooting that doctors said he should not have lived through, Fort Worth Police Officer Matt Pearce continues to serve the city and reflect on the faith he says carried him through the darkest moments of his life.

On March 15, 2016, what began as a routine morning patrol in west Fort Worth quickly turned into a fight for survival. Pearce chased two suspects into a rural area, climbed a barbed wire fence, and was shot multiple times, including a final shot at point-blank range.

“I see the gun come up, and it’s so slow and so vivid that I can see the nose of that nine millimeter bullet in the end of that barrel, and then that first round goes off,” Pearce said.

He said one of the suspects walked up to him after realizing he was already wounded. The suspect’s obvious plan was to kill him, Pearce believes.

“He basically walked up to me, put the gun to my head in the bushes, and pulled the trigger,” Pearce said.

Despite the severity of his injuries, Pearce said his faith never left him.

“He wasn’t done with me. God wasn’t done with me. I don’t know what the bigger purpose is for me still being here,” he said.

Moments before the shooting, Pearce had been near Victory Boulevard and Bryant Irvin Road on a separate traffic stop. Officers who responded to the scene and helped save his life say they refuse to take credit, calling what happened something far greater.

One of the first officers to reach Pearce was Jason Wilks, who is now a commander in the Fort Worth Police Department Gang Unit.

“I saw the suspect who was deceased lying on the ground,” Jason Wilks said.

Wilks said Pearce was conscious and communicating with officers as they worked to save him.

“Matt was conscious and talking and talking us through what we needed to do for him,” Wilks said.

Former Fort Worth police officer Brandi Camper, a trained medic, also responded to the scene and began assessing Pearce’s injuries.

“123456789 in the back and one in the face,” Brandi Camper said.

As she continued examining him, the number of wounds became clearer.

“We would find a bullet hole, then another one, and another one, and another one,” Camper said. “The bullet went behind his heart. It was on the back part of his heart. It left an inner schism. And they have never treated that injury before. And they didn’t know how to treat it, because when would you ever have a mechanism of injury where you have an injury to the back side of your heart because the bullet traveled through his face.”

In total, Pearce suffered ten entry and exit gunshot wounds. For both Wilks and Camper, the outcome pointed to one conclusion.

“Everything worked out, and God saved Matt,” Camper said.

“He’s a living, walking, breathing miracle,” Wilks said.

After months of rehabilitation, Pearce returned to duty. A decade later, he remains on the job with the Fort Worth Police Department.

“I got cases sitting on my desk,” Matt Pearce said.

Pearce said surviving the shooting reinforced his faith and reshaped how he views life and service.

“You don’t breathe your last breath until God says it’s time for you to come home,” Pearce said.