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A surge in gun violence has directly affected law enforcement in the United States. According to reports from local authorities, at least six police officers have been shot and wounded in violent altercations in several major cities across the country in the last 48 hours.
In Michigan, Oakland County Sheriff Mike Bouchard signed letters of condolence for nearly 40 officers who died during the first month of the year, and noted three other officers who were victims of gun violence in Houston, Texas.
Violence against officers across the country
Bouchard is referring to Houston Police Department officers Gadson, Hayden and Alvarez, ages 35, 32 and 28, who were hospitalized after being shot Thursday afternoon.
According to authorities, they all are in stable condition.
After shooting at the officers, an unidentified 31-year-old man fled and barricaded himself inside a home. Shortly after, police surrounded the building and, after a shootout in which the suspect was shot in the neck, he surrendered and is in custody.
Two more officers were shot in St. Louis, Missouri, Wednesday afternoon after locating a vehicle possibly linked to a homicide. According to Police Chief John Hayden, one was shot in the leg and the other in the abdomen.
Both officers, according to Hayden, are young men under the age of 30. The officer who was wounded in the leg was in a “very critical” condition, according to the sheriff’s statements.
“I ask for the public to pray for our officer. This is a rough time,” Hayden said. “Our officers are working hard, doing everything they can to keep people safe and we keep having these critical incidents.”
In Milwaukee, Wisconsin, a man opened fire Thursday on a police officer, injuring him in the shoulder, chest and abdomen after being pulled over during a traffic stop and attempting to flee.
According to a local Fox 6 reporter, the officer arrived at the hospital conscious and breathing, but with “serious injuries.”
The suspect is in police custody.
These acts against police come during the same week that New York mourns the deaths of two officers who were killed in a shooting in Harlem last Friday.
