Cop fights for life after being blasted twice in the face before gunman is shot dead attempting second hit
Officer in critical condition after unprovoked 'ambush' as he sat in squad car
A US cop has been left fighting for his life after being shot twice in the face in what the local police chief called an "ambush".
The 46-year-old sergeant from St Louis, Missouri, who is a 20-year veteran of the force, is in a critical condition in hospital, reports.
Police said early Monday that the suspect was killed after shooting at officers again.
Neither the officer nor the suspect has been identified.
"Fortunately for the blessing of God the officer is going to survive," Police Chief Sam Dotson said during a news conference.
A second news conference was scheduled for today.
reported that the shooting occurred in south St Louis at approximately 7.30pm local time.
The officer was sitting in his car at an intersection with the windows rolled up when a silver vehicle pulled up.
Someone inside the car opened fire at least twice, with bullets smashing through the glass and striking the officer.
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Dotson said the officer was not responding to a call and was targeted because he was sitting in a marked police vehicle.
"He didn't have any chance to react to this threat," the chief said of the wounded cop.
Mayor Francis Slay said the officer did nothing to provoke an attack.
He said: "He didn't deserve this. It looks like he's going to survive. He's going to be OK.
"But this is traumatic. It's traumatic for him, his family. It's traumatic for the city of St Louis. He was just doing his job."
The attack in St Louis came on the same day three other officers were shot, one of whom was killed.
Detective Benjamin Marconi, 50, in San Antonio, Texas, was fatally shot in his squad car by someone who pulled up from behind while he was writing up a traffic ticket.
An officer with the Gladstone, Missouri, police department was shot late Sunday, along with a suspect.
And a cop in Sanibel, Florida, was shot in the shoulder during a traffic stop on Sunday night.
He was treated for his injuries and later released.
Ten days later, a man gunned down three officers in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
And earlier this month, two officers in Des Moines, Iowa were fatally shot in separate ambush-style attacks while sitting in their patrol cars.
"This just shows the dangers of policing, not only here in St Louis but around the country," Dotson said.
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