Missouri Officer Critical After Shooting

A Florissant police officer was in critical but stable condition in a local hospital's intensive care unit Monday after being shot while investigating a reported burglary.

Officer Mike Vernon, a seven-year member of the Florissant Police Department and an Iraq War veteran, was shot twice at about 3 a.m. Monday when he approached someone behind a vacant bank in a strip mall on N. Lindbergh Blvd.

Police have a "person of interest" in custody, said spokesman Andy Haarmann. He matches a description Vernon gave of the shooter and was found nearby with the help of a K-9 unit. No charges have been filed.

Vernon was helping with an investigation into a reported burglary in the nearby Wedgewood subdivision, north of Lindbergh near Cross Keys Middle School. Officers called to a home there saw people fleeing out the back door and jumping over fences to get away, and called for help. Vernon was in his patrol car nearby and came to assist. He encountered the suspect, who fired three shots, hitting Vernon in the shoulder and the side. A nearby officer heard the shots and came to help, but the suspect got away.

Vernon was taken to a nearby hospital in critical condition and spent much of the morning in surgery. By Monday afternoon, he was out of surgery and doctors were monitoring his condition before deciding their next step.

Haarmann said that Vernon was "in and out of consciousness," adding "He's not nearly out of the woods." He said that doctors would re-evaluate Vernon's condition Tuesday morning.

Vernon, 33, who hails from Springfield, has spent seven years with the Florissant police, three as a corrections officer and four as a patrolman. He's an Army veteran who served two tours in Iraq, and is married with no children.

Haarmann said that Vernon's family was at his bedside. The Missouri Highway Patrol flew Vernon's mother to the hospital to be with her son, and drove his in-laws here. Other relatives who live out of state are heading here also, he said.

Police from several jurisdictions spent much of the morning searching the area, which is north of Lindbergh near New Halls Ferry Road. They found the one person of interest, but are still looking for other suspects or potential witnesses, Haarmann said.

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