A police officer who was shot in the head during a Black Lives Matter protest in Las Vegas early this month is now paralyzed from the neck down and on a ventilator.
According to his family’s recently released statement shared by the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department, 29-year-old Officer Shay Mikalonis remains unable to breathe on his own and can’t speak after being shot on June 1 during the unrest. The statement adds that he’s expected to stay on a ventilator, but that he appears to recognize family members and has “tentatively been accepted” to a local spine rehabilitation center.
Sharing with permission from Officer Mikalonis’s family. Since so many of our community is supporting Shay we wanted to provide an update as of June 12th, after the fundraiser held for him. He feels your prayers and positive thoughts. #PrayforShay pic.twitter.com/rpwaxMTCui
— LVMPD Dispatch (@lvmpd_dispatch) June 13, 2020
Police have arrested 20-year-old Edgar Samaniego with deliberately shooting Mikalonis during the protest after police video showed him “walking by, taking out a gun and firing at officers,” according to a judge. He’s been charged with attempted murder, battery and firearms charges and is being held under a $1 million bail.
Shay is just one of the many who've been wounded or killed during the now nearly three weeks of unrest that followed the May 25 death of George Floyd, an unarmed black man, at the hands of a Minneapolis police officer. Among those killed is 77-year-old David Dorn, a retired police captain who was shot to death on June 2 while trying to protect his friend's pawnshop from looters.