Indianapolis Cop Killed in Line of Duty, City's First Police Fatality in 7 Years
INDIANAPOLIS (CBS/AP) Indianapolis police officer David Moore, shot twice in the face during a weekend traffic stop, was declared brain-dead Wednesday as authorities worked to build their case against the career criminal suspected in the city's first fatal police shooting in seven years.
Moore had been in a coma at Wishard Memorial Hospital since Sunday's shooting, which police blame on an ex-convict who state correction officials say had been erroneously released from jail in December.
Moore's parents - also police officers - said during an emotional hospital news conference that they are proud of their son's sacrifice in the line of duty and that others might live through the donation of his organs.
"Somebody's gonna get a darn good heart," his mother, Sgt. Jo Moore, tearfully told reporters.
The suspect in the shooting, Thomas Hardy, remained jailed without bond Wednesday on robbery charges stemming from a store robbery that occurred less than an hour after Moore's shooting.
Prosecutors have until Friday to charge Hardy in the shooting.
Police believe Hardy opened fire, striking Moore four times, on Sunday morning after the officer pulled over a car that had been reported stolen. The circumstances of the shooting remain under investigation.
Hardy, 60, had been released on bond last month following an arrest on theft charges after his parole officer failed to enter his most recent parole information into a national database.
Indiana Department of Correction spokesman Doug Garrison said the parole officer also didn't perform required monthly checks to determine whether Hardy had been arrested. That parole officer was suspended without pay Tuesday.
The corrections agency said Hardy had a criminal history dating from at least 1984, when he was sentenced to 13 years in prison on a burglary conviction.
Moore's father, retired Indianapolis police Lt. Spencer Moore, said Wednesday that he had met with prosecutors, but he declined to discuss Hardy.
"I'm not going to give this guy a second of energy. I could care less about him," he said. "This is about David and this is about this department that we love."
Indianapolis Mayor Greg Ballard ordered the flags at all city government buildings to be flown at half-staff to honor Moore until sunset on the day of his funeral.
Sgt. Paul Thompson said Moore was the first police officer in Marion County to die in the line of duty since 2004, when city Patrolman Timothy Laird was fatally shot by a man who murdered his own mother and then walked through a city neighborhood firing a high-powered rifle.
Police Chief Paul Ciesielski said the force's more than 1,500 officers have been shaken by Moore's death. He said that despite the risks of law enforcement, it's "a noble career" and Moore exemplified the best of the force.
Moore's mother, who has been a police officer for a quarter-century and now works as a department supervisor, said her son often joked with her that the day shifts she worked were easy compared with his night shifts.
Sgt. Jo Moore said she last spoke to her son Saturday - his first day on a day shift.
"He said, `I'm going to like this shift.' But what he didn't realize is that day shift is very hazardous because when something happens on day shift it's usually very ugly. And he met evil," she said.