Sick Sunday: Cops Targeted in Four States

Police officers in four different states were fired upon this weekend as Nov. 20th turned out to be a bloody day for law enforcement.

In the most tragic case, San Antonio Detective Benjamin Marconi, a 50-year-old father of two, was shot at point blank range right outside police headquarters. Marconi was reportedly sitting in his vehicle, filling out an unrelated traffic ticket, when another vehicle pulled in behind him. The suspect got out and shot Marconi twice in the head.

“This is everyone’s worst nightmare. You never want to see anything like this happen,” said San Antonio Police Chief William McManus.

As of Monday afternoon, the manhunt was still on for the San Antonio suspect. Police are describing him as a black man with a goatee and they are warning that he is “extremely dangerous to the police and to the public.”

“We have pulled out all the stops,” McManus said of the search. “We have engaged our federal, our state partners and our local partners.”

As for motive, McManus said it was the department’s opinion that “the uniform was the target.”

Officers in other areas were attacked in similar ways on Sunday, though all of them escaped Marconi’s tragic fate.

In St. Louis, a 46-year-old officer was shot twice in the face, putting him in critical condition. The officer is expected to live, though his injuries may be significant and longterm. His would-be killer ambushed him on the highway before going down in a hail of bullets.

Officers in Sanibel, FL and Gladstone, Mo were also shot at this weekend. In Sanibel, the shooting was reminiscent of the one in San Antonio; the suspect crept up on the officer while he was sitting in his car, filling out a report on a traffic stop. The officer was injured and the suspect was arrested. In Gladstone, the shooting appeared to be directly related to a traffic stop and not part of a “war on cops” mentality.

In 2016 so far, 56 police officers have been shot while on duty.