TBT 1984: Mark Parker meets George Kennedy

The West Orange Times ran a series of photographs and stories following the recovery of Mark Parker, a 19-year-old Orange County corrections officer who was shot in the spine and paralyzed during a January 1984 shooting spree at the Orange County Courthouse.

On Jan. 10, a gunman entered the courthouse and started firing at anyone wearing a uniform in retaliation for a recent arrest. Parker had been on the job for four months.

In the months following, he received dozens of visitors, including television and film actor George Kennedy, who stopped at Humana Lucerne Hospital, where Parker was recovering.

Following the shooting, Parker made steady progress in learning how to do things for himself again, and he eventually returned to his home in Winter Garden. He remained in a wheelchair for the rest of his life. He died 25 years after the shooting in March 2009.