Denes Husty

Special to The News-Press

Naples police Sgt. Amy Young — involved in a domestic shooting in which she was wounded and a fellow officer was killed — will have to wait awhile to get her service gun back despite a judge's ruling.

Saying there was no legal reason for him to deny her request, Circuit Judge James Shenko on Wednesday granted Young's request to have the Collier County Sheriff's Office return her 40-caliber Glock pistol to her.

Young, 40, who was critically injured in the shooting, but has been released from the hospital, did not attend the brief hearing. She was represented by one of her attorneys, Thomas Gorman. She has not returned to active duty, police said.

On July 9, Young was shot in the face and Officer Luis "Dave" Monroig, 37, was shot and killed inside the Estero home where the two lived.

Young has not been charged, and the shooting remains under investigation by the Lee County Sheriff's Office.

Circuit Judge Frederick Hardt at a previous hearing ordered Young to surrender the weapon when he granted a temporary restraining order against her at the request of Monroig's ex-wife, who said her two young children were in the house during the shootings. The children were not injured.

Hardt subsequently rescinded that order, citing lack of evidence that there was any danger to the children.

That set the stage for Wednesday's hearing in which Judge Shenko said that "I don't believe I have any jurisdiction to do anything otherwise" than order the sheriff's office to give Young her gun.

However, Collier County sheriff's spokeswoman Michelle Batten said several procedural steps have to be taken before Young gets her gun back, including:

The sheriff's office must receive a signed copy of the judge's order.

Then a letter will be sent to Young at her last known address.

A criminal background check will be completed before that letter is mailed.

If everything is OK, Young must then make an appointment with the sheriff's property and evidence department.

On the day of the appointment, another criminal background check is done and if everything is all right, the gun will be returned to Young.

If another person picks up the gun for Young, they need a notarized letter from her stating that that person is picking up the weapon on her behalf.

Once the sheriff's investigation is finished, the state attorney's office will review the shooting, spokeswoman Samantha Syoen said.

When that review is completed, it depends on the findings as to when and if anything will be made public, she said.