Overview
- Police identified the injured officer as Sgt. Erik LeVasseur, a 27-year veteran who was shot twice in the face during an exchange of gunfire Monday evening in the Town Park community of Tradition.
- Doctors at HCA Florida Lawnwood Hospital wired his jaw, performed a tracheostomy, and placed him in a medically induced coma; he remains in critical condition.
- Physicians confirmed shrapnel in his retina and plan to transfer him to a trauma center equipped for the procedure before returning him to Lawnwood for continued care.
- Six officers responded to a disturbance linked to a neighbor dispute with mental-health dimensions, where an adult male armed with an AK-47–type rifle confronted them and was fatally wounded; no other officers were hurt.
- The Florida Department of Law Enforcement is leading the investigation, four officers are on administrative leave under standard protocol, and city and police groups have pledged support for LeVasseur and his family.