A decorated NSW police officer critically injured in a shooting at a western Sydney hospital is desperately missing his dogs.
NSW Police Deputy Commissioner Catherine Burn visited Senior Constable Luke Warburton from the NSW Police Dog Squad at Nepean Hospital on Thursday morning, where he is recovering after undergoing surgery on his wounded thigh.
"I don't think they're going to let the dogs in to see him in intensive care, but that's one of the things he said he's very much missing at the moment," Ms Burn told reporters outside the hospital.
Ms Burn said Const Warburton, 38, had regained consciousness and colour was returning to his face after he bled profusely in the shooting.
"I've been really, really worried since the event happened," she said.
Const Warburton was the first police officer on scene following reports a 39-year-old man had held a pair of scissors to the throat of a female doctor at Nepean Hospital on Tuesday night.
The man, who once worked as a nurse at nearby Westmead Hospital, was able to get a hold of Const Warburton's gun during a scuffle, and allegedly shot him in the upper thigh.
The same bullet then hit hospital security guard Barry Jennings, 48.
Const Warburton's wife rushed to be by her husband's side after the incident.
"He has a lot of his police colleagues with him, he has his family around him, so he's in a good place here."
Ms Burn said the officer's colleagues stood beside him in solidarity on his road to recovery.
"This is when the police really do come together and this is when you really do see the heart and soul of policing," she said.
The 39-year-old had been released on bail over an alleged break-and-enter just hours before the incident.
He was due to face Penrith Local Court on Wednesday charged with shooting with intent to kill but was deemed unfit.
But he was returned to the scene of his alleged crime for treatment and is due to face court on Thursday.
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