A Baltimore police officer is in critical condition after being ambushed and shot while on-duty and sitting in his patrol car early Thursday.
Authorities said during a press conference that the unnamed officer was multiple times and is on life support at the University of Maryland Medical Center’s Shock Trauma Center.
“We have a coward on the loose in Baltimore that we must and will find,” Mayor Brandon Scott said.
Police Commissioner Michael Harrison called the crime a “cowardly, brazen act” and offered his prayers and condolences to the officer and family. The officer was attacked when responding to a call at around 1:30 a.m. The shooter approached the car from behind and opened fire, causing the vehicle to crash. With the shooter nowhere to be found, the officer suffered life-threatening injuries.
Officials requested that anyone with information or leads should get in contact with them, as they want to solve the case as soon as possible.
“There’s been a lot of divisive talk over the past several years around police, around connecting with our community, around violence. But tonight, this is reality,” Baltimore City Council President Nick Mosby said. “I ask the citizens of Baltimore if you do not have information, to just pray.”
The University of Maryland Medical Center’s Shock Trauma Center did not respond to Newsweek‘s request for comment.
AP Photo/Julio Cortez, File
Maryland Governor Larry Hogan tweeted that he has offered the full resources of Maryland State Police to help with the investigation after the officer “was shot in a despicable, ambush-style attack.”
Baltimore City Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 3 tweeted early Thursday that city and state police union leaders were at the hospital and asked people to keep the officer in their prayers.
Harrison said he and Mayor Brandon Scott met with the officer’s family members, “who are, like us, obviously angry, confused, in search of answers, and have an expectation that we will find who did this and hold one or as many people responsible for this as possible.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images
