By Police1 Staff
INDEPENDENCE, Mo. — A community is rallying together to help raise money for an officer who was critically injured in a shooting.
Officer Thomas Wagstaff, 42, was shot in the head while responding to a call of a burglary in progress on March 29, Fox 4 KC reported. He remains in the hospital in critical condition.
Epic Coffee is donating 10 percent of all April sales plus tips to Wagstaff and his family.
According to the news station, the coffee shop is a part of a local church and they give back to a community cause every month. The choice to support Wagstaff’s family was a no-brainer because the Independence Police Department protects the church and its members, the company said.
“There’s a phrase that stuck out to us that we heard years ago: ‘Do for one what you wish you could do for everyone,’ and it stuck out to me,” church member Bobby Hawk said.
A GoFundMe has been set up to help Wagstaff’s family as well.
Officials said when the suspects saw police approaching, they fled in the homeowner’s vehicle. A neighbor’s security camera shows one officer attempting to shoot out the tires of the fleeing vehicle. Police said Wagstaff was shot while the suspects fled. An investigation is ongoing.
Joseph Wyatt, 28, and Ronar Santiago-Torres, 27, are both charged with first-degree robbery, armed criminal action, first-degree burglary and kidnapping. James McChan, 56, and Donald Nussbaum, 51, face first degree robbery, armed criminal action, first degree burglary and kidnapping charges for allegedly acting as accomplices.
https://www.facebook.com/ipdinfo/posts/1489674674398704