A father was expressing his utter gratitude Tuesday to officers who rescued his daughter after she was shot four times in a hostage situation with her ex-boyfriend.
"I didn't think I'd ever see her again," Greg Bauer said. "The man upstairs gave her back to me."
Kristin Bauer was shot four times in the Redlands standoff, and it remained unclear if she was shot by her 29-year-old ex-boyfriend Andrew Mike, or by officers.
But Greg said that wasn't what was important.
"They saved my daughter's life," Greg said. "They're just amazing. Utterly amazing."
Last Thursday, 28-year-old Kristin was held hostage by Mike in what Greg believes spurred over the fact that the women was trying to slow down their relationship.
"It was just getting more serious than she was ready to take on at that time," Greg said.
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Greg says that day, after taking Kristin to lunch, Mike fired a shot through his car door to scare Kristin, who was sitting in the passenger seat.
He then dropped Kristin off at work at Office Depot. But followed her inside and fired another shot, striking a customer in the hand, authorities said.
Police said Mike then held Kristin hostage down the block as SWAT members closed in.
Kristin called her father.
"She was begging him to let her go, 'Just let me go,'" Greg said. "And he just kept saying, 'I'm not afraid to die.' Then the phone went dead. I went into shock — I didn't know what to do."
Moments later, gunfire erupted.
Investigators say Mike opened fire on Kristin while they were huddled close together.
SWAT officers then quickly shot and killed him.
Kristin was near death, suffering from multiple gunshot wounds.
"The lung, her liver, diaphragm — it all went through there and it just shredded," Greg said.
Greg said while he thanks the officers, he also thanks the doctors and nurses at Loma Linda Medical Center who kept his daughter alive.
"She's doing great," Greg said. "She's a miracle. Even the surgeons have said that she's a miracle."
Greg says she is alert and talking, but still has a long road to recovery, including several more surgeries.
