Trooper Survived 'By Grace Of God'

(CBS)  A state trooper in Tyler, Texas defines the phrase "lucky to be alive."

On March 22, Steven Stone was shot several times at point blank range during a traffic stop by the two occupants of the pickup truck he pulled over.

The drama was recorded on his dashboard camera.

Stone survived injuries to his chest and neck.

On The Early Show Friday, Stone told co-anchor Harry Smith he "originally stopped them for speed(ing). When the suspects finally do stop, I ask the driver to get out, and he leaves his door open. That's a pretty busy road. I didn't want someone to pass by and hit his door. So I go back there to close it. When I do, I see an open bottle of alcohol in the vehicle. I confiscate that, ask the driver if he has any weapons on him. He tells me he has a pocketknife. I take that from him or get that away from him. He gives me a Mexican driver's license, and I was going to go back and run it (through the computer), but I wasn't real comfortable. I start patting him down, and I find drugs (marijuana) in his coat.

"At that point, I was going to place him under arrest, and as I'm putting the handcuffs on him, I notice a pistol magazine in his pocket, and the passenger steps out, and things got real bad from there."

As seen on the video, the two started shooting handguns at Stone. He says the first one hit him in his bulletproof vest. In all, he says he was hit two-to-six times, and rolled down an embankment.

Asked by Smith how he managed to survive, Stone responded, "I wish I could tell you, sir. It's by the grace of God that I'm here and have the ability to talk to you. After that first shot, my vision goes black. I didn't know I had fallen or was rolling down the embankment or anything. I didn't get my vision back 'till I was already down in the embankment, and I -- at that time, I was looking up at them firing down on me."

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