ST. LOUIS — A suburban St. Louis police officer was shot Friday morning during a traffic stop.
Officials said the Ballwin Police Department officer had pulled over a Ford Taurus for a speeding violation just after 11 a.m. CT. When the officer was walking back to his police car, the suspect exited his vehicle and shot the officer from behind.
Police said three shots were fired, and the officer was struck at least one time.
“Make no mistake: We believe during this investigation that Ballwin officer was ambushed, period,” Ballwin Police Chief Kevin Scott said.
The entire incident was captured on the officer's dash cam.
The officer was taken to Mercy Hospital in Creve Coeur, where he is listed in critical but stable condition.
After the shooting, St. Louis Police Chief Jon Belmar said, the suspect sped away before an officer from another police department spotted the car about 4 miles away. The suspect abandoned his vehicle and fled on foot before being arrested about five minutes later, Belmar said.
Antonio Taylor, who authorities have said is in his 30s and was paroled in 2015 after serving time on a weapons charge, was charged with assault of a police officer, armed criminal action and a felon in possession, St. Louis County Prosecutor Bob McCulloch said Friday at a news conference.
Taylor is being held on $500,000 cash bond and is expected to be arraigned on the felony charges Monday morning.
Authorities have not provided Taylor’s race, nor the race and identify of the officer, who was described as a 9-year law enforcement veteran.
The shooting followed the previous night’s attack in Dallas that killed five officers and wounded seven during a protest over the deaths of black men killed by police this week in Louisiana and Minnesota. But Scott said he “can’t even begin to speculate” about a motive.
The St. Louis County Police Department's Bureau of Crimes Against Persons is handling the investigation.
Contributing: The Associated Press
