A summer internship with the Allen Police Department has become a full-circle moment for an aspiring officer and the sergeant who unknowingly helped shape his future. Cody Shimkus, a soon-to-be senior at the University of Alabama, said he had to convince his parents to let him take the internship . Both of his parents worked in law enforcement, and he said they had long discouraged him from following the same career path. “Both my parents were police officers. Growing up, I was always dissuaded from law enforcement due to their advice,” Shimkus said. Despite their concerns, Shimkus said there was something different about the opportunity in Allen. One of his earliest memories involved Sgt. Lawrence Williams, who was recovering after being shot in the line of duty nearly a decade ago in Hawthorne, California. Shimkus said he and his father, who was also a police officer, visited Williams in the hospital. “My earliest memory of Sergeant Williams is actually when he was shot in the line of duty. We went as a family, my dad and I went to go see Sergeant Williams in the hospital,” Shimkus said. Williams said he suffered a catastrophic leg injury but remained determined to recover. “I took a bullet to the leg, which, you know, basically gave me a catastrophic injury that took me 20 months to recover from, but it wasn’t one of those incidents where I was gonna let me keep me down,” Williams said. Williams also remembered the family’s hospital visit. “I think you guys brought me Giorgio’s Pizza, right? … He brought the Broncos here for me,” Williams said. Now with the Allen Police Department, Williams found himself mentoring Shimkus during the internship — an unexpected reunion nearly 10 years after they first met. “Here we are 10 years later, in 2026, now all roads seem to be leading to Allen here. As fate would have it, I don’t know a coincidence around it, but we landed here, and I’m pleasured to work with another Shimkus,” Williams said. The experience solidified Shimkus’ decision to pursue a career in law enforcement. After graduating from the University of Alabama, he plans to apply to the Allen Police Academy. “I feel like God put this internship in my life for a reason. Sergeant Williams here, I feel like he’s put in my life for a reason. Everything has been kind of God working for me and pushing me towards this opportunity. I have no doubt that that’s what happened and I’m very glad it did,” Shimkus said. This story was originally reported for broadcast by NBC DFW. AI tools helped convert the story into a digital article, and an NBC DFW journalist edited it again before publication. ...read more read less