Decorated Boston Cop Shot in Face

BOSTON (AP) — A decorated Boston police officer remained in a medically induced coma Saturday, a night after he was shot in the face by a man with several gun convictions during a traffic stop that ended when other officers fatally shot his attacker, the city's police commissioner said.

Officer John Moynihan, 34, was struck just below his right eye, and the bullet remains lodged below his right ear, Commissioner William Evans said. He was listed in critical condition,

Evans said Moynihan is undergoing tests and is being monitored for bleeding in his brain. "We are hoping and praying there's not further damage," Evans said.

"He's a fighter. I am sure he's going to pull through," the commissioner said.

Moynihan and five other gang task force members, traveling in two cars, stopped a car Friday night in the city's Roxbury neighborhood after reports of shots fired, Evans said.

The commissioner said the officers had blue lights flashing but none had pulled out their weapons. He said video from the scene shows Moynihan approaching the driver's door, and the suspect, Angelo West, 41, suddenly pull a gun and shoot him at point-blank range.

Moynihan is on the police Youth Violence Task Force and is a highly decorated military veteran, Evans said.

He is a former Army Ranger who served in Iraq in 2006-2007 and was honored at the White House in May with the National Association of Police Organizations TOP COPS award. Moynihan received the award for being one of the first responders in Watertown following the April 2013 gunbattle with the Boston Marathon bombers.