PETERSBURG, Va. — A second suspect has been arrested concerning the shooting of a Virginia State University police officer on campus.
Chesterfield County police say that on November 12 at around 1:30 a.m., they responded to 3400 Boisseau Street for a report of a VSU officer being shot.
VSU Officer Bruce Foster had stopped to speak with people involved in a disturbance. 21-year-old Reginald L. King Jr. allegedly gave the officer a false identity before fleeing on foot. Foster chased after King and caught up to him.
While attempting to detain King, 21-year-old Deonta M. Blount shot the officer from behind, said police.
He was taken to the hospital with life-threatening injuries. He is now in stable condition, but according to a fundraiser made by the Virginia Association of Chiefs of Police, he has been paralyzed from the waist down.
Police have found and arrested both suspects. On November 16, Reginald King Jr. of Bridle Path Drive was arrested and charged with assault on a law enforcement officer and obstruction of justice concerning the incident. Deonta Blount of Timsberry Circle was arrested and charged with aggravated malicious wounding of a law enforcement officer.
They are both in custody at Chesterfield County Jail.
Foster's wife and family are hoping for his health to improve. His wife, Diedra, on the fundraiser page, said "As the wife of a police officer, you live with a constant undercurrent of worry, but Bruce’s strength and dedication always bring a sense of calm. That calm was shattered early Sunday morning when I received the call that Bruce had been shot while on duty at Virginia State University. The man who left our home, strong and full of resolve, was now fighting for his life in a hospital bed, with his family surrounding him, praying for returned sensation from the waist down.”
The fundraiser has already raised $29,000 for Foster's "medical expenses, surgeries, rehabilitation, home modifications, loss of income, and the educational and daily needs of his four children."
