Boston Bombings Hero Cop Shot In Face

Boston Bombings

A police officer who was decorated for his actions during the Boston Marathon bombings is in a critical condition in hospital after being shot in the face.

John Moynihan, who is in a medically-induced coma, was struck just below his right eye and the bullet remains lodged below his right ear.

The 34-year-old was shot at point blank range after gang unit officers pulled over a car for a routine stop in the city.

Suspect Angelo West, 41, got out of the vehicle and fired at police as he tried to run away, Boston’s police commissioner William Evans said.

West was killed when officers returned fire, he added.

Mr Evans described Moynihan as “a fighter” and said he hoped he was “going to pull through”.

A woman driving down the street was shot in the arm and was recovering, and three other officers were taken to hospital with stress-related problems.

Two people who were in the car were being interviewed, and Mr Evans said it was too early to say whether criminal charges would be filed against them.

He said: “The officer here is in tough shape, but we’re all pulling for him, and hopefully he’ll pull through.

“His family’s with him, the clergy has been here and … let’s pray for him.”

After the Boston Marathon attack, Mr Moynihan helped officer Richard Donohue who was injured in a gun battle with the bombers in the Watertown area.

Mr Donohue had been shot in the leg and nearly bled to death when police tried to apprehend brothers Tamerlan and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, Lieutenant Michael McCarthy said.

Three people were killed and 264 others injured in the April 2013 attack.