![“By no stretch of the imagination is he out of danger, but [the doctors] wanted us to know he is doing better now than he was when we brought him in,” St. Louis Police Chief John Hayden told reporters outside Barnes-Jewish Hospital Wednesday evening.](https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/a68387a/2147483647/strip/true/crop/3000x2071+0+0/resize/840x580!/format/webp/quality/90/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F9a%2F9c%2Fb767832c426c99269d14886fbb6c%2F10272021-slmpd-04.JPG)
Updated at 5:25 p.m., Jan. 26, with current condition of officer and investigation details
Two St. Louis police officers have been hospitalized after they were shot in Ferguson Wednesday while attempting to apprehend a suspect.
The officers were following a car believed to be connected to a homicide that occurred Tuesday evening. As they approached the vehicle, one or more people inside opened fire, striking one officer in the leg and the other in the abdomen.
The shooting occurred just after 1 p.m. near the intersection of West Florissant Avenue and Northwind Estates Drive.
During a press conference outside Barnes-Jewish Hospital, St. Louis Police Chief John Hayden told reporters the officer who was shot in the abdomen remains in critical condition and is “not out of the woods.”
“By no stretch of the imagination is he out of danger, but [the doctors] wanted us to know he is doing better now than he was when we brought him in,” Hayden said. The officer has undergone surgery and doctors are considering moving him to the intensive care unit.
The police chief said he did not know whether the two officers, who are both in their mid-20s, returned fire. St. Louis County is investigating the shooting and currently has the four occupants of the shooter’s car in custody, he said.
One of the suspects was also shot during the incident and is being treated at Barnes-Jewish Hospital, St. Louis County Lieutenant Colonel Steve Sack said Wednesday evening. Sack called the investigation “very active” and did not specify whether one of the officers had shot the suspect.
The incident comes days after two other St. Louis police officers and five pedestrians were struck by a driver on westbound Interstate 64 near Newstead Avenue. Both officers were hospitalized and in critical condition following the crash.
“It's just a tough time to be a first responder,” Hayden said. “Our officers out here are working hard, they're doing everything that they can to keep people safe and we keep having these critical incidents.”
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