Security guard talks after he was wounded last month at a Tulsa store

A security guard who was shot one week ago at a Tulsa Kmart is recovering remarkably well. He talks about his experience exclusively with News on 6 crime reporter Lori Fullbright. <br/><br/>Ben says

Friday, January 6th 2006, 10:07 am

By: News On 6

A security guard who was shot one week ago at a Tulsa Kmart is recovering remarkably well. He talks about his experience exclusively with News on 6 crime reporter Lori Fullbright.

Ben says he's a man of great faith, so when he got shot on the job, he knew he'd recover and in fact, the speed of his recovery, shocked even his nurses. "I believed I was healed and bingo-bango, I was healed and a positive attitude goes a long way." Ben has been a loss prevention officer with Kmart for eight years.

He says he saw a man slip a memory card out of its casing and into his pocket, so Ben followed him outside and confronted him and that's when it happened. "I was wrestling the guy and he was yelling stuff I can't say. He was yelling and his buddies came over and I heard pop-pop and you know that smell after you set off fireworks, that's exactly what it smelled like."

One of the 22 caliber bullets hit him in the right bicep; the other went into his stomach. Doctors had to remove part of his colon. Both bullets are still in him, yet he's not angry. â€œIf you let bitterness eat you up, it won't hurt him, it'll just hurt me.â€

Ben can't wait to get back to work. He says he wouldn't be foolish and confront a man with a gun, but in this case, someone ambushed him from behind, so he doesn't plan to do anything differently. "It's my job; it's what I'm paid to do. You give your word; you sign a contract, that means more to me than anything in the world."

Ben says you often don't know how many people care about you until something bad happens, so from that standpoint, the shooting has been a blessing.

Ben says he does not want Kmart to change its policy about confronting shoplifters because he thinks letting them go ends up costing customers a lot more in the long run and Ben doesnâ€™t believe that is fair.