The New Orleans police officer who was shot while on patrol in the French Quarter Friday has been identified as 31-year-old Trevor Abney, our media partners at The Advocate report.
Abney was driving a police cruiser with officer Brooke Duncan IV on Royal Street when a passenger in a nearby pedicab stood up and fired a gun several times at the cruiser.
The driver side window was shattered and Abney was struck in the left cheek below his eye. Duncan was cut on the arm by glass from the shattered window.
Surveillance video courtesy of Fawkes Fine Art shows the shooting incident:
NOPD chief Shaun Ferguson said the ambush appeared to be unprovoked; eyewitnesses add that neither officer had time to return fire before the suspect fled the scene.
Abney was last listed as stable, but in critical condition. The suspect was taken to an area hospital to be evaluated after Ferguson said he experienced 'a medical episode' during the arrest.
Multiple law enforcement sources identified the suspect as 44-year-old Donnell Linwood Hassell, who was staying at a nearby hotel about a half mile from the scene of the shooting, according to The Advocate.
Video captured NOPD officers arresting Hassell a few blocks away from the scene:
Mayor Latoya Cantrell called the attack "cowardly," and said it was a "dark day for our City."
Abney joined the force in 2015, while Duncan is a 16-year veteran.
Read more from The Advocate here.
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