A decorated Boston police officer who helped the wounded in the aftermath of the 2013 Boston Marathon attacks and was later honored at the White House was critically injured Friday night after a suspect opened fire during a vehicle stop.
Officer John Moynihan, 34, was shot in the face just below the right eye and was “fighting for his life” in a medically induced coma, police Commissioner William Evans said.
Officers had pulled over a car Friday evening and were approaching when a suspect exited and opened fire. Police returned fire, killing the suspect at the scene, Evans said.
A third person, a female bystander, also suffered a gunshot wound to the arm and was hospitalized with non-life threatening injuries. Three other officers were also hospitalized for stress.
The names of the suspect and injured were not released. Police said two additional suspects were also taken into custody on unrelated matters.
Moynihan, a decorated military veteran, was honored last year by President Obama in a White House ceremony with the Top Cops award after coming to the aid of transit officer Richard H. Donohue Jr., who was injured during a shootout with Boston Marathon bombers Tamerlan and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev in April 2013.
Donohue was shot in the leg and nearly bled to death while authorities hunted the Tsarnaev brothers, the Associated Press reported.
The 34-year-old former Army ranger was also credited with aiding the wounded at the Boston Marathon finish line after the two bombs detonated, a law enforcement official told the Boston Globe.
Moynihan is “the absolute best type of soldier and police officer,” the official told the Globe. He is “selfless, courageous, and giving.”
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