CLAYTON, Mo. (AP) - A man who shot a suburban St. Louis police officer, leaving him paralyzed from the waist down, was sentenced Friday to two life terms plus 20 years in prison.
Brian Lamont Cannon Jr., 22, of St. Louis, was convicted in March of first-degree assault of a law enforcement officer, two counts of burglary and other felonies.
St. Louis County prosecutor Bob McCulloch told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch (https://bit.ly/1gSbsTq ) that the sentence means Cannon will likely spend at least 50 years in prison.
“He’ll be well into his 60s before he’s even considered for parole,” McCulloch said.
Florissant officer Michael Vernon, now 34, was searching an alley for a burglar on the night of May 28, 2012, when a gunman popped out of a trash bin and began shooting. Vernon was struck three times; one bullet lodged in his spine.
Cannon testified in March that he was on a crime spree and didn’t know he was shooting at a police officer. He said during the trial that he fired only after someone opened the lid, though Vernon testified he never got that close to the trash bin.
“I was already scared. I just fired,” Cannon said. “I really didn’t have time to think it was a police officer.”
Vernon, in his testimony, said he heard a noise but thought it was a raccoon. He said he had turned from the trash bin and was going back to his patrol car when the gunman stood up and fired.
Vernon has since moved to Tennessee with his wife to be closer to her family. They are expecting a baby. He also is taking psychology classes online and said he may want to become a counselor one day.
Vernon was a military police officer for eight years before working as a Florissant officer for five years.
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Information from: St. Louis Post-Dispatch, https://www.stltoday.com
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