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Another Cop Shot 07/08/2016 Source: New York Daily News by: Meg Wagner 51 19 0 101 A St. Louis-area cop was shot during a traffic stop Friday — just a day after five Dallas police officers were killed while protecting an anti-police brutality protest.Read more at http://americanactionnews.com/articles/another-cop-shot#exoIOsYJFeJJ6wVf.99READ MORE
BALLWIN • 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 male 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."St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney Robert McCulloch agreed. "It was clearly an ambush, an attack," he said. "There was no confrontation, no argument, no nothing."He also said it appeared that one of the shots might have been fired after the officer fell.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 suspect, identified as Antonio Taylor, 31, of the 1200 block of Tower Grove Avenue, was charged with first-degree assault of a law enforcement officer, armed criminal action and unlawful possession of a weapon. Bail was set at $500,000.Antonio Taylor, of St. Louis, was charged in the shooting of a Ballwin police officer. This is a mug shot from a court case in Oklahoma.Court documents said Taylor used a .22-caliber gun to shoot the officer. Authorities say he has a lengthy criminal history.Police had no information about motive.The 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 the men and women of the Ballwin police department and the entire law enforcement family," Scott said.Scott said this is a "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.The shooting occurred within blocks of three schools, including Woerther Elementary, Selvidge Middle School and Holy Infant Catholic Church and school. Single story residential homes line one side of New Ballwin Road and a small pond sits to the west of the road where the shooting occurred.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," Scott said. "Whether we have the title of one of the safest cities in America, it doesn't make us immune to this happening."St. Louis County Executive Steve Stenger called it a "tragic act." "We want (police) to know we appreciate work they do and risk they take every day," he said. "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." ...
ST. LOUIS -- A suburban St. Louis police officer shot in the neck during a traffic stop is paralyzed from the neck down due to what the Ballwin police chief calls "catastrophic damage to his spinal cord."Officer Michael Flamion was shot from behind on July 8 after stopping a man for speeding in Ballwin, a well-to-do St. Louis County town of about 30,000 residents. Antonio Taylor of St. Louis was arrested later that day and is jailed on $500,000 bond on several charges, including first-degree assault of a law enforcement officer.The shooting occurred one day after five police officers were killed in Dallas, but Missouri officials have not discussed a possible motive for Flamion's shooting. Ballwin Police Chief Kevin Scott declined to discuss the investigation during Monday's news conference.In the press conference, Chief Scott said that Officer Flamion is responsive, alert, recognizes all family, friends and coworkers and nods "yes and no" responses, CBS affiliate KMOV reported.The officer will require extensive long-term care."Officer Flamion has so dedicatedly served the Ballwin community, and he is forever deserving of our long-term support," Chief Scott said. "Although it is evident he will not be able to serve in the same capacity, I will assure you that Officer Flamion is ingrained in the Ballwin police family and will forever be a Ballwin police officer, no questions asked.""Officer Flamion is highly regarded by everyone in the department. His sense of humor and professional demeanor make him a centerpiece of our department," the agency said in a post on its official Facebook page.The department said it was overwhelmed by the "amazing amount of support and compassion" the community has shown Flamion, his family and Ballwin police.A man who lives nearby told KMOV his wife helped the wounded officer."A nurse drove by and she told my wife to get a towel, so she ran in and grabbed a pillow case that's on our stairwell ran back out and put it on his neck and stopped the bleeding," Ben Riley.Taylor was on probation for a weapons violation in St. Louis. He also had been on probation for a stolen vehicle in Oklahoma, and was picked up on a gun charge in California, drawing a prison term for being a felon in possession of a firearm. He was paroled in March 2015.A GoFundMe page was created for the officer's family with the goal of raising $250,000 to help with intensive care. The page has so far raised more than $195,000.
