A cop shot during a Missouri traffic stop ambush is now paralyzed from the neck down.
Ballwin brass revealed the heartbreaking diagnosis for Officer Michael Flamion, who was wounded when a bullet pierced his neck during the July 8 attack near St. Louis.
The gunshot caused “catastrophic damage to his spinal cord,” officials said.
However, the 31-year-old will not lose his badge, Ballwin Police Chief Kevin Scott announced.
Although it’s evident he will not be able to serve in the same capacity,” Scott said at a press conference Monday. “I will assure that Officer Flamion is engrained in the Ballwin police family and will forever be a Ballwin police officer, no questions asked.
Flamion was critically wounded a day after five cops were gunned down in a Dallas sniper attack and remains in intensive care at a nearby hospital.
Although Flamion depends on a ventilator, he is alert and able to recognize friends and family members, police said.
He was shot in the neck from behind during a traffic stop with a speeding driver
Antonio Taylor, the 31-year-old suspect in Flamion’s shooting, was captured hours later during a foot chase in the neighboring town of Manchester and faces charges that include first-degree assault of a law enforcement officer.
A GoFundMe account raising funds for Flamion and his family has already collected more than $244,000 since its creation on July 9.
Flamion’s on-duty injuries also qualified him for financial assistance from the Catastrophic Injury Fund of the Backstoppers, a nonprofit that helps the families of slain first responders.
From FD.
Photo credit: Freedom Daily.