Las Vegas cop shot in head at protest may spend life on ventilator
A Las Vegas police officer shot in the head during a protest of George Floyd’s police-custody death may be on a ventilator for the rest of his life, relatives said.
Officer Shay Mikalonis, 29, was shot on June 1 during a Las Vegas Strip protest in the wake of Floyd’s May 25 death in Minneapolis. Cops were trying to take some of the demonstrators into custody when Mikalonis went down, authorities said last week.
“Shay is on a ventilator and will be for the foreseeable future or perhaps the rest of his life,” according to a statement from his family tweeted by police. “He is still very critical and therefore still at UMC Trauma. He is awake and appears to recognize his family.”
Mikalonis initially was rushed to University Medical Center in extremely critical condition and on life support after the shooting.
“Our concern is for Shay and only Shay,” his family’s statement continued. “We hope and pray that one day he will leave UMC Trauma and go to a rehabilitation facility [where] they can work on Shay’s quality of life, whatever that may be.”
Mikalonis, a four-year department vet, had successful surgery to repair a shattered jaw, a police union leader told the Las Vegas Review-Journal on Tuesday.
Mikalonis remained in critical condition Tuesday, Las Vegas police told the newspaper.
Steve Grammas, president of the Las Vegas Police Protective Association, thanked cops and supporters who have dropped off food and held vigils at the hospital.
“From the moment Shay got shot, the community has continued to support him and our officers,” Grammas told the newspaper. “We are thankful for it.”
The suspected shooter, Edgar Samaniego, 20, is facing counts of attempted murder, battery and gun charges in the incident near the Circus Circus hotel-casino as Mikalonis was arresting a protester.
A prosecutor in the case said Friday that police video shows “visual evidence of the actual act” of Mikalonis being shot.
With Post wires