ROANOKE, Va. (WDBJ) - Police organizations across Southwest Virginia are showing support for the Roanoke Police Department and an office, who sustained life-threatening injuries in a Sunday night shooting.
Many localities have offered thoughts and prayers for the officer’s speedy recovery.
This is Roanoke City’s first officer-involved-shooting in recent years where a police officer has been wounded.
Community leader Bishop J.L. Jackson explained this shooting left a feeling of fear in many, but there has been an outpouring of support to move forward.
“Fear was the mood of [Sunday]. Fear was the vibe, fear was the energy, fear was the feeling,” Jackson said.
Jackson works closely with the Northwest community and is the chaplain for Roanoke law enforcement. He was at Melrose Towers Sunday helping officers and residents process what happened.
“[Sunday] was a different day in our city because we don’t see this kind of activity often,” Jackson. “We’ve seen gun violence, but we haven’t seen a lot of officer-involved-shootings, especially where we have an officer who was wounded.”
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Roanoke’s last officer-involved-shooting happened almost a year ago, but it’s been more than five years since an officer was critically wounded in the line of duty.
“I am very proud of how our officers acted, very proud of how they kept their coolness under fire,” Roanoke Police Chief Scott Booth said. “[It was a] horrible incident that happened to our officers in our community, I never want that to happen.”
Chief Booth explained it was a traumatic day for his officers, who almost lost one of their own.
“To see a department that’s rallying around not just an officer [who] was shot in the line of duty, but the entire department,” Chief Booth said. “For what they’re going through, one word comes to mind, and it’s really heroic.”
Jackson hopes police and the community can help each other heal.
“We’re here to support you, keep you calm and to give you a different perspective and outlook, so you can maintain your composure and have strength for tomorrow because we have to live for another day,” Jackson said.
The Roanoke Police Department is planning to do a RESET community walk in the Melrose area to help community members heal from this event.
WDBJ7 is continuing to follow updates from police about the hospitalized officer, who was last reported to be in stable condition and recovering.
