Missouri Police Officer Fighting for His Life After Shooting

BALLWIN, Missouri -- A Ballwin Police officer was in critical condition after he was shot in the neck during a traffic stop late Friday morning, police said.

The officer had stopped the car for speeding on northbound New Ballwin Road about 11 a.m., police said. As the officer went back to his car, the driver got out, "advanced quickly" and fired three shots at the officer, police said.

Said St. Louis County Police Chief Jon Belmar: "Make no mistake, we believe that Ballwin officer was ambushed."

The gunman fled north on New Ballwin Road and was captured in Manchester several miles northeast of the shooting scene, after jumping out of the car and running, police said.

A semiautomatic handgun was recovered, according to St. Louis County Police, who are taking over the investigation.

The male officer was taken to Mercy Hospital St. Louis, in Creve Coeur, where he was in critical but stable condition, "fighting for his life," Ballwin Chief Kevin Scott said at an emotional press conference Friday afternoon.

"Today my heart aches for men and women of Ballwin police department and entire law enforcement family," Scott said.

The officer had radioed in that he was stopping a car. Then 911 dispatchers began getting reports of an officer shot, police said.

An in-car camera caught the shooting on video, Scott said. He urged anyone with any video of the incident to call police.

The suspect, 31, had a weapons violation out of St. Louis, for which he was put on probation. he was given probation for a stolen vehicle charge in Oklahoma in 2011. He was picked up as a felon in possession of a firearm in California and paroled in March 2015. His name will be released once warrants are issued, police said.

Police had no information about motive.

Scott said this is a very "devastating time for us emotionally."

"Emotionally, our relationship with this officer and the fact that it was one of ours is very, very difficult to deal with," Scott said.

Ballwin, with a population of about 30,000, is in west St. Louis County, along Manchester Road, west of Highway 141.

"We are inherently focused on safety, whether we have the title of one of the safest cities in America, it doesn't make us immune to this happening," Scott said.

St. Louis County Executive Steve Stenger called it a "tragic act."

"We want them to know we appreciate work they do and risk they take every day," he said of police. "We stand by those who have stood by us during difficult times like this."

Belmar, the St. Louis County chief, said his department has gone to 12-hour days throughout the weekend as result of heightened sense of alert after all that has happened nationally and now locally.

"We need somebody out there to meet us halfway, because it is very difficult for police officers to do their jobs now," Belmar said. "At some point we need to tone down the rhetoric."

'They all need our prayers'

A woman living in the 300 block of New Ballwin Road near the scene of the shooting said she heard two gunshots and ran out her front door to see what happened. After seeing the wounded officer, she grabbed a towel to put on his neck to try to stop the bleeding.

"I tried to help the officer," the witness said. "I just hope he's OK."

The woman who helped the officer said she isn't trained as a nurse or first responder. "I'm just a mom," she said.

She said her friend called 911 while a nurse performed CPR.

Other residents living near the scene of the shooting said they heard gunshots but didn't know what they were.

"I thought it was kids or firecrackers or something," said a resident on the street. "I'm looking outside at many, many police officers. They all need our prayers."

Suspect tackled, arrested

The suspect was arrested in the area of Burgundy Lane in Manchester, several miles from the shooting scene on New Ballwin Road.

An older-model blue Ford Taurus with an Illinois temporary license plate, believed to be the car the gunman used, was found in that area, where it had knocked down a mailbox post. The suspect was captured nearby after a foot chase.

A landlord from Phoenix, Danny Luster, was doing work on a home he owns at Valley View Drive and Lenjer Drive in Manchester when he saw the suspect run behind some houses. He said pursuing police tackled the man and subdued him with a Taser.

He said he overheard police say they had found one gun but were looking for another.

Luster said the arrest was made in the back yard of Liz Lavin's nearby home, in the 700 block of Valley View.

Lavin said she was watching CNN coverage of the Dallas police killings when she heard her kitchen door open and close, causing her dog to bark furiously. She said she initially thought it was her boyfriend, and within seconds saw police swarm her back yard.

She heard an officer shout, "We found the weapon!"

Lavin said she never saw the suspect, and has no idea who had opened the door. She said police checked inside her house, kept part of her yard roped off into Friday afternoon and searched nearby woods.

At Friday afternoon's press conference, police said they weren't sure whether the suspect had tried to enter Lavin's home or if that could have been an officer checking the area.

Officer 'cautious,' careful

Ballwin Alderman Raymond Kerlogan, of Ward 4, said the officer who was shot had taken him on a a ride-along on Tuesday.

"I spent about four hours with him," Kerlogan said. "Just watching him, how cautious he was."

Kerlogan said he remained in the police car when the officer stopped someone and ran the person's drivers license. He recalled the officer being "very conscious" of safety when approaching the vehicle.

Kerlogan called the officer "caring" and a "great guy."

This is a breaking story. Check back for more details.

Natalia Alamdari of the Post-Dispatch contributed to this report.

Tribune News Service