A Boston police officer who played a role in the Boston Marathon bombing case was shot in the face after a routine traffic stop and is now in a coma.
According to the New York Daily News, suspect Angelo West, 41, shot Officer John Moynihan, 34, in Boston’s Roxbury neighborhood on Saturday. After Moynihan was shot, West was shot and killed after the apparent unprovoked shooting.
Police Commissioner William Evans said, “The officer probably didn’t even have a chance to say anything. No one had any indication of what might happen.” Moynihan is being monitored for any bleeding that could enter his brain, as he still has a bullet located behind his ear.
Videos showing the incident were not released publically, but do indicate Moynihan barely addressed the suspect before he was shot and none of the other gang task force officers at the scene had drawn their weapons.
Fox News reported the officers had been responding to reports of shots being fired. West had a .357 Magnum revolver and shot at the officers as he tried to flee. Evans reportedly said he had a criminal record that reflected plenty of violence and he had other priors for gun convictions.
Moynihan is also a veteran for the military and he was one of the first officers to respond in Watertown after the Boston marathon suspects, Tamerlan and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev had engaged in a shootout with other officers.
Moynihan had helped to save Officer Richard Donohue after he suffered a gun shot wound to the leg and was in danger of bleeding to death.