A Baltimore police officer is on life support after being ambushed while sitting in her patrol car Thursday afternoon.
Officers responded to reports of a vehicle crash at around 1:30 a.m Thursday morning after finding an officer Keona Holley shot multiple times, FOX5 reported. Authorities said an unidentified suspect walked up to the on-duty officer and fired multiple shots into the marked vehicle.
Holley was rushed to Maryland Shock Trauma shortly after law enforcement discovered her vehicle crashed as authorities believe she accelerated after being shot, according to the Baltimore Sun.
“I couldn’t believe it happened to her. She is a good person,” a longtime friend of Holley’s Qiana Mark said after she visited the officer at the hospital. “I know we hear this all the time but literally she is a genuine good person without the uniform on or with the uniform on.” (RELATED: GRAPHIC VIDEO: Off-Duty Police Officer Kills Gunman In Baltimore)
Democratic Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott published a statement on Twitter, calling the attack “heinous” and the suspect a “coward.”
My statement on shooting of police officer, which occurred early this morning pic.twitter.com/AUSxjgoFyV
— Brandon M. Scott (@MayorBMScott) December 16, 2021
Republican Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan said in a statement that authorities have the full backing of Maryland State Police to assist in the investigation after the officer “was shot in a despicable, ambush-style attack.”
This morning, a Baltimore Police officer was shot in a despicable, ambush-style attack in South Baltimore.
We have offered the full resources of the Maryland State Police to assist in the investigation.
I ask all Marylanders to keep the officer in your prayers.
— Governor Larry Hogan (@GovLarryHogan) December 16, 2021
Hogan announced in mid-October a $150 million plan to “refund police,” saying at a news conference the “initiative will provide a desperately needed shot in the arm to our state and local police agencies.” The Maryland governor said the effort to defund police is “dangerous, radical, far-left lunacy.”