Phoenix officer shot eight times in the line of duty continues recovery one year later

PHOENIX — A Phoenix officer shot eight times in the line of duty one year ago is on the road to recovery as he is learning how to walk again.

On December 14, 2021, Moldovan was shot eight times, including the head, while investigating a suspicious person near 19th Avenue and Camelback Road.

Court documents show that Officer Moldovan responded to the area after reports of a vehicle doing donuts and speeding.

When officers pulled into the lot, they saw a man, later identified by police as 24-year-old Essa Williams, jump the fence into the apartment complex, according to court paperwork.

Phoenix police shared an update on Wednesday that shows Moldovan, and his wife Chelsea, speaking about the shooting one year ago.

“He’s here, he’s talking, and breathing on his own, lots of things that were never supposed to happen, did happen,” said Moldovan’s wife.

Chelsea Moldovan recalls getting the phone call last year from a lieutenant that her husband was in the ICU, but did not why, “When they told me he was shot in the head, I had no words.”

In this past year, Moldovan has returned home where he undergoes extensive occupational and speech therapy. Moldovan is learning how to walk and is slowly able to learn new daily tasks like getting dressed on his own.

The family thanks the Phoenix Police Department for their support, but most importantly the community, “I have no other words but thank you,” he said.