The Calverton Park officer was at Walmart working as a security guard. He was wearing his police uniform, police said. The officer is 35 years old and has been with the Calverton Park force for 2½ years.
When the officer confronted the man about the shoplifting, the man pulled a gun and fired several shots. He hit the officer once in the arm and twice in the torso, St. Louis County police Sgt. Benjamin Granda said.
"We're very thankful that he was wearing a vest," Granda said.
Dilworth, the Ferguson police captain, said the other life-saving measures were performed by Schyler Pokorski, who's head of loss-prevention for the store and used his belt to help slow the officer's bleeding. It was Ferguson police officer Jontaine Glover who used a tourniquet.Â
No one else was injured in the shooting. The officer did not fire his weapon, Granda said.
After the suspect ran from the store, he may have gotten into a car, Granda said. However, police don't have a description of a vehicle.Â
Walmart store surveillance photo of man suspected of shooting a police officer Sunday, Feb. 16, 2020, in Ferguson. Courtesy of St. Louis County Police Department.
La Fonda Holt said she was working security in the Walmart parking lot when shots went off. She called 911.
“I was right out front, so when the shots fired off they were very loud,†she said. “And then folks started running out of Walmart.â€