Aug. 31 (UPI) — The St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department said that an officer shot while responding to a call over the weekend has died.
Officer Tamarris L. Bohannon died Sunday, a day after he was shot in the head while responding to a shooting call, the department said in a statement.
Police Chief John Hayden told reporters during a press conference Saturday evening that Bohannon was “very critically injured” in the shooting and that a second officer was shot in the leg while attempting to extract Bohannon from the scene.
The suspect, a 43-year-old White male, then barricaded himself in a residence after ordering the couple who lived there to leave but was eventually taken into police custody following a standoff, during which no shots were fired and there were no further injuries, authorities said.
“It is with the heaviest of hearts that we report that our critically injured officer has died,” the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department said in a statement late Sunday. “He will be deeply missed.”
Bohannon had been on the service three and a half years and was the eighth St. Louis officer to be shot since June, Hayden said.
The family of the slain officer released a handwritten letter, published on the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department’s Facebook page, asking for prayers and support.
“He is a hero to many but most importantly to his loving wife and three incredible children. The loss of this great man is felt deeply within the St. Louis community,” the letter said.
