A 22-year-old police officer shot Sunday by a suspect at a traffic stop in Tecumseh, Oklahoma, died Monday after undergoing surgery.
Officer Justin Terney exchanged fire with a man trying to escape a traffic stop 35 miles southeast of Oklahoma City, according to Assistant Police Chief J.R. Kidney, Fox News reported.
The stop happened about 11:30 p.m. Sunday night, Fox News said. The suspect tried to flee when Terney was checking with dispatchers about whether he had any outstanding warrants, Kidney said.
Terney used a stun gun on the suspect but it didn’t stop him, and he shot at Terney. Terney returned fire, and both were wounded. The suspect was still in intensive care Monday morning.
Terney was wearing a bulletproof vest and body cam footage was retrieved, KTLA reported. He died around 8:40 a.m.
Kidney said the family and the department are devastated, and that in his 22 years on the force, Terney was the first officer-involved shooting it had.
“We’ve got officers who’ve never experienced this, never been through anything like this,” Kidney said, KTLA reported.
Kidney described Terney as gung-ho and asked for prayers for his department and Terney’s family.
Twitter users poured out condolences and expressed their sadness over the loss of such a young and promising police officer.