An unnamed Ballwin, Missouri, police officer was “ambushed” and shot after pulling over a driver on Friday, July 8, one day after the tragic Dallas shootings.
According to the Associated Press, the officer was returning to his car to check on the license and registration information of the driver around 11 a.m. Friday when the man got out of his pulled-over car and shot the officer at least once in the neck before fleeing.
The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports that a woman who lived near the scene of the crime got a towel and applied pressure to the policeman’s neck until a nurse arrived from somewhere to perform CPR.
The Ballwin officer was rushed to the hospital in critical but stable condition, Ballwin police chief Kevin Scott said Friday evening via a Facebook video.
Scott added that the unnamed officer “had no chance at all” to reach for his own weapon, since his back was turned, so he was “completely helpless” against his attacker.
The suspect, 31-year-old Antonio Taylor, was later tracked down on foot and taken into custody.
Although officials said they are unsure of Taylor’s motive, St. Louis County Police Chief Jon Belmar told the AP that the officer was “ambushed.”
There is no evidence that the attack was linked to, or in reaction to, the shooting deaths of five Dallas police officers just one day earlier.
“[This is a] sad day for law enforcement,” Belmar said during a press conference.
