An Omaha officer who was shot during a traffic stop had no pulse, no blood pressure and only minutes to live when he got to a hospital, a doctor said Thursday.
NELSON LAMPE / The Associated Press | Posted: Wednesday, August 20, 2008 7:00 pm
OMAHA — An Omaha officer who was shot during a traffic stop had no pulse, no blood pressure and only minutes to live when he got to a hospital, a doctor said Thursday.
“He still had brain activity,’’ Dr. Robert Fitzgibbons of Creighton University Medical Center said as he described the condition of Officer Paul Latschar when Latschar arrived by ambulance Wednesday night.
Latschar suffered at least two gunshot wounds, Fitzgibbons said, including one in the lower abdomen that struck a major leg artery. He was also shot in his left arm.
The officer had already suffered cardiac arrest, and doctors had to pump 20 units of blood into him “just to get him resuscitated,’’ Fitzgibbons said.
The officer remained in critical but stable condition Thursday after several hours of surgery, doctors said. Barring complications, they said, Latschar was expected to recover fully.
Police Chief Eric Buske said Latschar was helped by a bystander Wednesday night after being shot by a man he and his partner had stopped for a violation.
Buske said the officers were driving their unmarked car in the area because of an earlier shooting and saw the man’s car. Buske said Latschar and his partner, Jerald Swanson, knew the man’s driver’s license was suspended, so they pulled him over.
The driver was alone in the car. Investigators were uncertain Thursday about whether the man was involved in the earlier shooting, Buske said.
After the man stopped his car, he got out and began shooting at the officers, who Buske said were wearing uniforms. They fired back, but Buske said the man was not hit and took off running, with Swanson in pursuit.
A suspect was captured within minutes, the chief said. The man was identified as Corey Allen, 30, of Omaha. Buske said a weapon was found nearby, but it was still unclear whether it was used to shoot at the officers.
Allen was arrested on suspicion of attempted murder and being a felon with firearm, Buske said.