A St. Louis, Missouri police officer is in critical condition after being shot during a traffic stop.
The incident happened on Friday when Antonio Taylor, 31, was pulled over for speeding around 11 a.m.
As the officer walked back to his patrol car with Taylor’s driver’s license, Taylor exited his vehicle and shot the officer 3 times in the neck and back.
The officer had “no chance at all” to pull his weapon to defend himself, said Ballwin Police Chief Kevin Scott.
St. Louis County Police Chief Jon Belmar added that Taylor “advanced quickly” from behind, leaving the officer “completely helpless.”
Taylor got back in his car and sped off but he was caught 4 miles away after a brief police chase.
He was charged with assaulting an officer and illegal possession of a firearm, both felonies.
Taylor was on probation for stealing a car and illegally possessing a firearm. He was paroled in March of last year.
Friday’s shooting came less than 12 hours after a black Army reservist shot 12 white police officers, killing 5, at a peaceful protest march in Dallas on Thursday.
Micah X. Johnson, 25, was cornered in a parking garage and executed by a bomb-wielding robocop following the massacre. He told police he wanted to kill white people — especially white officers.
Also this week, an officer was shot and wounded in Valdosta, GA. Another officer was shot at after responding to a 911 call in Roswell, GA.
The surge in violence against cops is linked to the shooting deaths of 2 black men by white cops in Louisiana and Minnesota.
