Postal worker shot speaks out

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) - A postal worker, shot in the eye during a bank robbery on Thursday, says God was protecting him.

Robert Norman told reporters Saturday that his eye is ok, and that he can still see.

All smiles as Robert Norman is escorted from his hospital room.  Norman was inside the Chase Bank getting money for lunch, when he realized it was being robbed.

The suspect, Brook Abebe, told Norman to get on the floor, but when Abebe went to the back of the bank, Norman got up and ran out the front door.  Norman says, "I went around the corner and we were face to face. He was in my face. He was bringing the gun up and I grabbed the pistol with my hand and he shot me in the face."

Norman ran to the back of the building, hoping to get the license plate number of the getaway car when the shooting occurred.

Abebe fled, but officers caught him after he crashed his car.  He was hurt and went to Wishard Hospital.  He is now in the Marion County Jail.

Norman, "God protected me. I could have died. All he did was break some bones in my jaw and the bullet has to stay in my neck. They don't want to take the risk of damaging anything, so I've got a souvenir, doctor said of this experience."

Police say that Brook Abebe, the suspect in this case, rented a room at the Cumberland Estates. He stole guns from his landlord and those two guns were used to commit the bank robbery.

Police say Abebe has confessed to the crime, admitting he needed money for rent.

Now, Norman is facing surgery on Tuesday.