A Milwaukee police officer—and a CIncinnati Bengals fan—shot several times during a welfare check last month was surprised with tickets to the Super Bowl.
Officer Herbert Davis III was wounded while checking on a man slumped over in a vehicle on Jan. 27. When Davis approached the man, the man reportedly fled the scene while brandishing a gun.
Shots were fired between Davis and the suspect, and both were wounded in the exchange. The suspect was able to get into Davis' patrol car and speed off.
While he was escaping the scene, the man collided with another vehicle. Police caught up with the suspect, and he was arrested.
Davis' love for the Bengals went viral after a video of his emotional reaction to the team going to the Super Bowl was posted online Sunday, WTMJ-TV reports. A GoFundMe campaign was created to raise money to get the officer to the game.
But a Milwaukee radio station and its parent company decided to pick up the tab, which included two game tickets, two plane tickets, a hotel room and spending money. Davis was surprised by the generosity on live radio.
“It's just a token of our appreciation for your service, your commitment, and your inspiration that you've brought to all of us," said WTMJ-AM Vice President Steve Wexler.
Davis, who plans to take dad to the Super Bowl, thanked the station for the gift. He also talked about other area law enforcement officers shot in the line of duty recently, and he wants to use the GoFundMe campaign money to help those officers reach the big game.
“Whatever money that we got donations from, anything that we were able to do, I wanted to share that with them," Davis said. "Football fans or not, if they wanna come I wanted to be able to get them there. If they are not football fans, I would love the opportunity to donate to a cause they would want," Davis said.
The Cincinnati Bengals face the Los Angeles Rams in the Super Bowl on Feb.13 in Los Angeles at SoFi Stadium.
