THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, January 5, 1996 TAG: 9601050502
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY LARRY W. BROWN, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: Medium: 74 lines
A bicycle patrol officer who was shot in the chest and leg while trying to catch a suspected drug dealer in Brambleton Wednesday night was released from the hospital Thursday.
Officer Chris R. Amos, a member of the bicycle patrol for four years, was spared a life-threatening wound by his bullet-proof vest, police said.
``The chest injury. . . is not serious, just a little soreness,'' police spokesman Larry Hill said. ``The gunshot wound to the leg was in the upper thigh muscle, and he is experiencing a lot of discomfort in that area. He probably is not expected to return to work anytime in the near future.''
Amos was recuperating, and was not available for comment.
The shooting occurred at 7:27 p.m. in the 1400 block of Bond St. near Marshall Ave. as Amos and his partner were on a routine patrol near Norfolk State University. They spotted two men engaged in what appeared to be a narcotics deal near Reservoir and Corprew Avenues.
When Amos and his partner, whose name was not released, approached the men, the men fled in different directions. The officers pedaled after them.
Amos was trying to grab one of the suspects when the man shot him in the chest and in the left leg. After falling, Amos returned fire, striking the suspect, 19-year-old Juan H. Moore. Moore died at the scene. Amos then was taken to Sentara Norfolk General Hospital.
Police would not release the type of gun used.
Chief Melvin C. High visited the shooting scene, then visited Amos in the hospital Wednesday night
Lt. Wally Driskell, commander of the 1st Precinct's red sector - which includes Brambleton - said a fatal shooting is not easy for an officer to deal with.
``It's something very few police officers have to go through,'' said Driskell, who spoke with Amos Wednesday night. ``Police officers are people like everybody else. We're trained to shoot . . . but it doesn't take away that emotion.''
Wednesday's shooting was the second time in a month that a Norfolk police officer killed a suspect. Both cases were ruled self-defense.
On Dec. 4, officer Larry Bobbitt killed a man who was attacking him with a two-by-four. Bobbitt was hospitalized after suffering numerous blows to the head. The suspect, Cedrick E. Taylor, died a short time later.
Amos and his partner were among the police department's first bicycle patrol officers in 1990. They have since helped train every new bicycle officer, Driskell said. About 60 officers work the bicycle patrol at least part time, he said.
In an interview last spring, after he apprehended a burglary suspect fleeing on a bicycle, Amos said he had clocked more than 12,000 miles on bicycle patrol.
Police said the bullet-proof vest helped save Amos from serious injury.
According to statistics on protective vests provided by the International Association of Chiefs of Police, nearly 1,400 police officers' lives were saved between 1987 and 1991, the last year figures were available.
The gear originally was designed to protect against firearm assaults but they have saved officers in falls, assaults with cutting instruments, car crashes and explosions. MEMO: Police are still looking for the second suspect in Wednesday night's
shooting. Anyone with information is asked to call Crime Line
664-4040.
Staff librarian Diana Diehl helped research information for this
article.
ILLUSTRATION: Photo
Officer Chris R. Amos has been a member of the bicycle patrol for
four years.
KEYWORDS: BULLETPROOF CLOTHING NORFOLK POLICE DEPARTMENT by CNB