Baltimore County Pfc. David Garner was in critical but stable condition Thursday afternoon, nine hours after being shot while working with his canine partner in Perry Hall.
“He is currently reasonably stable. He is on a ventilator,” said chief surgeon Dr. Thomas Scalea, with the University of Maryland Shock Trauma Center at the University of Maryland Medical Center.
“It is hard to tell how this is going to play out. It?s very early.”
Garner is the third local officer shot in the line of duty in nine days, though all three are still alive with good prospects for recovery.
“Doctors are superstitious people. They say bad news comes in threes, so we?re hoping this is the end,” Scalea said.
Garner, a 16-year veteran was wearing a protective vest when he was struck in the arm and chest by gunfire, police and medical personnel said.
One or more shots pierced Garner?s right arm “through and through,” Scalea said, and punctured his right chest, damaging his right lung and liver before exiting near his pelvis.
Scalea repaired Garner?s liver and said the officer was recovering.
He could not tell if the wounds were made by one or two bullets.
State Trooper Eric Workman, 38, was in serious but stable condition Thursday after being shot under his arm in an early morning raid in Woodlawn on Tuesday, shock trauma spokeswoman Cindy Rivers said.
A Baltimore City rookie police officer, Momodu Gondo, 23, was shot Dec. 5 outside his home during an apparent robbery attempt, police said.
“He is really progressing reasonably well. I would anticipate him leaving the hospital in the next few days,” Scalea said.
“I?m getting kind of tired of this,” he said of the shootings.
