Broad Ripple jeweler back to work following home invasion shooting

Gary Thrapp is back at work with a bullet still lodged inside him. It hurts, but Thrapp isn't about to complain.

"Putting almost 30 years in here, being on this corner, I'm just happy to be back," Thapp said.

Police raced to Thrapp's home on the northeast side on Sept. 16. A masked gunman made no threat and gave no warning before he shot the 62-year-old jeweler in the stomach.

"I was bleeding pretty profusely, sitting in a pile of blood, and my pajama bottoms were all red." Thrapp said.

The two robbers quickly grabbed what they could and ran off. They left Thrapp and his wife of 36 years on the floor. Paramedics feared Thrapp would bleed to death before he ever got to the hospital.

But now, Thrapp is getting better every day. He's well enough to return to his Broad Ripple store and oversee their recent renovation. But Thrapp admits things are different since the shooting. It has changed his perspective.

"When someone says you need to live in the minute but it's the hardest thing in the world to do. I try to live in the minute now." Thrapp said.

Thrapp said he will always find the brighter side of life, even when it comes to the bullet still lodged inside him.

"I hope it will one day be around my neck on a little leather cord, we'll see."