Indiana cop shot in head hangs on after life support removed
Sep 1, 2022, 5:57 AM | Updated: 5:58 pm
Evidence markers dot the scene, Wednesday, Aug. 10, 2022, on Richmond, Ind., where Richmond Police Department Officer Seara Burton was critically wounded and a man was injured in a shootout following a traffic stop. (Mike Emery/The Palladium-Item via AP)
(Mike Emery/The Palladium-Item via AP)
RICHMOND, Ind. (AP) — An eastern Indiana police officer shot in the head during a traffic stop was taken off life support Thursday but she remained alive with vital signs that were stable, her department said.
Richmond Police Department Officer Seara Burton, 28, has been treated at a hospital in Dayton, Ohio, since being shot on Aug. 10.
“At this time Officer Burton is still alive and surrounded by family,” the department said in a news release posted on Facebook Thursday afternoon.
The decision was made Wednesday to remove Burton, a four-year veteran of the Richmond department, from life support.
“Officer Seara Burton’s injuries have been determined to be unrecoverable,” the police Department said in a news release posted on Facebook Wednesday. “Seara will live on and continue to be a hero with her selfless gift of organ donation.”
It did not say which organs would be donated.
Prosecutors have filed three attempted murder charges against Phillip Matthew Lee, the man accused of shooting Burton.
Lee, 47, of Richmond, has been held in jail on a $1.5 million bond. He has made an initial court appearance in which he entered a plea of not guilty.
Lee’s moped was stopped by officers Aug. 10 and Burton was called in to assist with her police dog, which indicated the possible presence of narcotics.
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