Perry Hall, MD- Police Officer Shot 12-14-06

[Truck4 48]

Date: 12-14-06

Time: 0728hrs

Location: Bel Air Road

Departments: Baltimore County Police

Description: K-9 Officer shot by a suspect during perp search after the robbery of a supermarket. Officer was shot in the arm and chest with serious internal injuries.

Writer: Truck4

"The man was found on the floor of the shed about 11:30 this morning, moments after a police tactical team fired tear gas into the building and roughly four hours after gunfire from the shed wounded 16-year veteran officer David Garner.

Garner has served with the county's police dog section for 12 years and was involved in the search for the suspect in the minutes after the robbery at the Super Fresh store on Bel Air Road in Perry Hall. After he was shot, police directed return fire at the shed.

Corp. Mike Hill tells WJZ's Gigi Barnett "This is a very serious incident. This is an armed gun man who has shot a police officer and he certainly will shot anybody he can to try to get away from the scene."

The physician in chief at Shock Trauma in Baltimore, Doctor Thomas Scalea (scuh-LEE'-uh) says Garner was admitted at 8:45 a-m with what he calls a through-and-through injury to his right arm and an entry wound in his right chest.

Scalea says a bullet pierced a lung, Garner's diaphragm and liver, fractured some ribs and exited Garner's pelvis.

Scalea says Garner underwent surgery to have his liver repaired and is in the recovery room in "reasonably stable" condition. He is on a ventilator. Police say he was wearing a bullet-proof vest when he was wounded.

Garner is 39-years-old and has a wife and two children.

A second suspect was arrested during a foot chase moments after the robbery. Police investigating a series of recent supermarket robberies had been conducting a stake-out outside the store when it was robbed shortly before 7:30 a.m.

"This is the third forcemeat involved shooting in the last few days in the Baltimore metropolitan area. We had a Baltimore City Officer shot, Maryland State Trooper shot, and now one of our own shot." added Col. William Kelly.

On Monday, Maryland State trooper Eric Workman was shot and critically injured in the Woodlawn area as he and other officers attempted to arrest a suspect in an earlier home invasion and kidnapping.

Last week, Baltimore City police officer Momodu Gondo was shot three times in the back outside as he arrived home in Northeast Baltimore at the end of his shift.

Workman and Gondo are still hospitalized at Shock Trauma. Scalea commented today on the hospital's handling of the three shootings. He said, "It's emotionally very difficult for me and my staff when the phone rings to put all that aside and do your job...otherwise people don't get the best medical care."