KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) _ Officer Paul Clark has returned to the Street Narcotics Unit on limited duty, meaning he can perform administrative tasks. Some people didn't think Clark would return to work at the Kansas City Police Department after a gunman shot and paralyzed him last year.

His friends, however, knew he would.

"We all expected him to come back," said Officer Matt Masters, who suffered a minor wound in the same shooting. "The people who didn't think he could, well, they don't know Paul."

This month, Clark returned to the Street Narcotics Unit on limited duty, meaning he can file paperwork and complete administrative duties but cannot serve search warrants or engage in any enforcement.

He began work Aug. 4, three days before the one-year anniversary of his shooting in the same unit where he was assigned when four bullets blasted into his body and changed his life.

But that timing was just a coincidence, Clark said.

"It just worked out that way," he said. "I was driving to work that day, and thought, 'Hey, Today's the day.' "

On Aug. 7, 2007, a gunman shot Clark as the officer kicked open a car window during a gang-related drug sting. Three bullets tore into his leg and buttocks. A fourth bullet crashed into his spine.

He fell onto the asphalt. He couldn't feel his legs.

The injury initially confined Clark to a hospital bed. He eventually began using a wheelchair and a walker but shed those earlier this year.

Now, he's walking on his own. He mows his lawn, even though it takes him longer.

"I'm getting my speed up," he said. "Old ladies aren't passing me anymore."

Clark, 41, still visits a physical therapist several times a week to rebuild muscles and flexibility. He's also waiting for his body to regenerate damaged nerves on his right side.

He suffers muscle spasms that cause his right foot to turn inward when he isn't pressing down with his body weight. He wears a small brace on his right calf to prevent his foot from curling.

Store clerks and old acquaintances often ask about the brace.

"Oh, you got an ankle injury?" they'll say.

"It's a little more than that," Clark replies.

At times, his hamstrings, quadriceps and gluteal muscles tighten hard without warning. He finds it hard to balance sometimes.

"The muscles aren't getting the right impulses," he said.

Clark doesn't know when he will conquer those final hurdles.

"That's the thing with spinal injuries," he said. "They can't give you a timeline."

But he is glad to be back among friends and co-workers.

"I was getting bored just working out two times a day," he said. "I needed to do something. I missed that camaraderie."

Although it can be frustrating to be making copies and shredding papers while his co-workers raid drug houses, Clark said his injuries have "taught me a great deal of patience."

At work on a recent Friday, Clark walked in the door and was greeted by an enthusiastic "Hey!" from a member of a tactical team.

"How'd your doctor visit go? What did he say?" the officer asked Clark about his appointment with his spinal specialist in Columbia.

"He said, 'You're doing awesome,' " Clark said. "He said, 'Come back in a year.' "

Clark grabbed a stack of paperwork, pulled his chair to his desk and prepared for another day at work.

"OK," he announced eagerly. "What's going on today?"