STATESBORO, Ga. () — A young man has been sentenced to 30 years in prison after pleading guilty to shooting a Statesboro police officer back in April.

Advanced Patrol Officer Joey Deloach says his life will never be the same after what happened.

Deloach was responding to reports of someone breaking into cars at Copper Beech apartments. Body cam shows him catch Kent in the act.

Deloach didn’t announce himself as police but told Kent to put his hands up and get on the ground. It was after that Deloach took four bullets, injuring a major artery in his leg.

“I was trying to take cover behind a vehicle and when I looked down I could see immense amounts of blood pouring out of my left thigh,” said Deloach.

The one behind the trigger was then-19-year-old Anthony Kent. He plead guilty to his crimes during jury selection two weeks ago.

Officers were able to respond quickly and apply a tourniquet before rushing him to the hospital in the back of a police car. Deloach said doctors told him he lost more than half the blood in his body, before a five hour surgery to repair a major artery in his thigh.

“My son wasn’t always into this type of behavior,” said Kent’s mother on the witness stand. “He was a good kid up until his teenage years.”

The defense made a case that Kent was too young to have good judgement at the time and too young to go away for several decades – an argument they pushed hard on, to the judge’s visible frustration.

“You have the discretion to look at him and see that he’s a kid,” said the defense. “You have the discretion to see that he is entitled to at least have a chance.”

The prosecution harped on Kent’s teen years – and his time in alternative school. The defense saying it was then, after school disruptions, fights and threats, he was evaluated and found to have issues with aggression authority and comprehension.

The defense even suggesting the state save hundreds of thousands of dollars by avoiding his incarceration.

“This is money that could be invested in programs for at-risk and system-involved youth,” a defense-called witness said.

Although there wasn’t a moment Kent and Deloach seemed to really look at each other during the proceedings, Kent addressed Deloach and his family with the court.

“I sincerely apologize to Mr. Deloach and his family and the things that I put him through,” said Kent. “But at the time I didn’t know what I was doing, at the time I didn’t know who he was at the time and I was just trying to defend myself just like how anybody in this courtroom would defend their life because they love their life.”

Statesboro police and local agencies showed up in full force to support officer Deloach in the courtroom. Police chief Mike Broadhead says they’re glad to see that justice has been served.

“An assault or an attack on a police officer really is an attack or an assault on the entire community,” said Broadhead. “I really feel like a long sentence like what was handed out today really is appropriate when you think about how it affects our community at large.”

Before the judge delivered his sentence, he seemed to plead with Kent – asking that he do something more with his life from here.

Kent will have the possibility of parole after 30 years behind bars. The judge also ordered that he get his GED while he is there. By the time he’s released, he will have known more time served than time free.