Arnold Police Chief Bob Shockey said he has been deeply moved by the outpouring of support from the community since Officer Ryan O’Connor was shot in the head on Dec. 5.
Shockey said Dec. 21 that O’Connor was still in critical condition.
“It’s a long road to recovery,” Shockey said. “It’s been a tough two weeks.”
At the Dec. 21 City Council meeting, city officials wore the T-shirts and sweatshirts the Arnold Police Department has been selling to raise funds for O’Connor’s family, which includes a wife and four young children.
Shockey said after the meeting that almost 6,000 shirts had been sold.
“We appreciate the public support,” he said. “It’s overwhelming.”
The shirts have been sold at a variety of events. They also may be purchased at the Arnold Police Department.
Numerous other fundraisers to benefit O’Connor’s family are underway.
Shockey said Dec. 21 that he didn’t know exactly how much had been raised, but he estimated it was “above six figures.”
“The support’s been tremendous,” he said. “It’s amazing.”
A Dine Out benefit was held Dec. 20, with more than 100 local restaurants taking part and donating a percentage of sales from that night to the O’Connor family.
Shockey said he didn’t know how much money that event raised, but he said the response was huge.
“Some restaurants ran out of food and some stayed open two hours late,” he said. “There were lines at 5:30 p.m. at some of the restaurants.”
A benefit concert for the family is scheduled for 7 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 7, at Rickman Auditorium on the Fox High School campus in Arnold. Butch Wax & The Hollywoods and the LunchBag Blues Band are scheduled to perform.
The Fox C-6 School District, the Arnold Food Pantry and the city of Arnold are working together to make that concert happen. Tickets cost between $20 and $25 and can be purchased at the Arnold Food Pantry Thrift Store, Arnold Recreation Center and online at brownpapertickets.com.
Another benefit concert, called “Bands Backing the Blue,” will be held from 2-10 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 13, at VFW Post 2593 in Arnold. An entry fee of $20 will be charged at the door. Bands include Dance Floor Riot, Throw the Horns, Lucy’s Palace, DJ Maze and Tia Tricamo. Also, Plaid to the Bone, a band that O’Connor had played with, will perform. There will also be a 50/50 raffle, silent auction, T-shirts, raffle baskets and more.
The Backstoppers, a support organization for police, firefighters and emergency medical services personnel, donated $5,000 to O’Connor’s family and has been accepting donations for the family. To donate, visit backstoppers.org.
An account for the family has been set up at Fortune Bank, 3494 Jeffco Blvd., in Arnold, and donations may be made there.
Shield of Hope, a nonprofit organization, set up a GoFundMe page for the family, and as of Dec. 22, had raised $47,306 toward a goal of $50,000. To donate, visit gofundme.com/support-arnold-po-ryan-oconnor.
On Dec. 19, Seckman Resource Officer Marc Gibson dressed as Santa and directed traffic at the Seckman High School crosswalk as part of a fundraising effort for the O’Connor family.
Students held “Coins for O’Connor,” collecting $688.62 in a week. The money was collected at school and at Seckman High sporting events, principal Todd Scott said.
The goal was to raise $500.
“We set the dollar amount at $500, and we challenged our kids and our community to raise that amount and we exceeded that,” Scott said.
This is Gibson’s first year at Seckman High School.
“He’s great,” Scott said. “We absolutely love him.”
Other fundraising efforts for the family included a Dec. 23 barbecue hosted by Contemporary Finds at the Arnold Eagles Club. In addition, a raffle was held for Colt 6920 AR-15 and Glock 43 guns.
O’Connor, 44, was shot while transporting burglary suspect Chad Klahs, 29, to the Arnold Police Station after he was arrested. Klahs, who also was shot, later died.
The incident began when a call came in to Arnold Police about a burglary in the 1800 block of Fox Pointe Drive in Arnold.
The suspect fled into nearby woods and officers reported hearing shots from the woods at 12:58 p.m., said Capt. Gary Higginbotham with the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office, which is investigating the incident.
The suspect eventually was caught at Zingers Mart gas station, 1502 Jeffco Blvd., in Arnold, and a weapon was found on him and confiscated.
However, the suspect apparently had a second weapon on him not found during the arrest, which he allegedly used to shoot O’Connor, Higginbotham said.
The shooting happened on the Arnold Police Department parking lot inside a police SUV O’Connor was driving, and after the shooting, the vehicle crashed into a fence and propane tank, Higginbotham said.
He said the shooting is under investigation but that the suspect “may have shot the officer, then himself.”
The weapon Klahs allegedly used to shoot O’Connor was found in the back of the police SUV, Higginbotham said.
The weapon officers confiscated from Klahs when he was first arrested, as well as other items, had been stolen in the burglary earlier that day, Higginbotham said.
He said Arnold Police alerted other law enforcement agencies about “an officer down” at about 1:35 p.m.