WOUNDED OFFICERS IN GOOD SPIRITS

~Correction: 1961 shooting wasn't at Town Plaza. It was near entrance to Arena Park and Wimpy's Restaurant.

The first Cape Girardeau police officers to be seriously wounded in a shootout in nearly 40 years were reported to be in serious but stable condition Sunday.

Sgt. Bradley Moore and Cpl. Keith May were talking and in good spirits, officer Bill Bohnert said.

"They've got plenty of family and other officers around them now," Bohnert said.

May and Moore were injured during a shootout in a motel room Saturday while they were conducting a search. May was shot in the abdomen, just below the portion of his torso covered by a bulletproof vest. Moore was hit in the left shoulder.

The bullet that struck May passed through his body and was later recovered. Moore needed surgery to remove the bullet from his shoulder.

Preliminary investigation has shown the bullet that struck May was from a .380-caliber weapon. In the shootout with Matthew S. Marsh, neither officer used a .380 caliber handgun.

The Missouri State Highway Patrol will conduct the investigation into the shootout, since it involved officers from another law enforcement agency shooting a suspect.

Patrolman Curtis Sessions said the rare shooting affects the entire department.

"These are officers who have been around for a long time and everyone knows them," he said.

The Cape Girardeau Police Officers Association has set up a "wounded officers' fund" for May, Moore and their families through Bank of America, said Sessions, association president.

"It's going to be a hard time for them, and this can help them with any unforeseen costs during the recovery," Sessions said.

The last time Cape Girardeau police were seriously wounded in a shootout was 1961. Patrolmen Donald H. Crittendon and Herbert L. Goss died following a gun battle in Town Plaza Shopping Center March 10, 1961. Gross, 67, died the same day while Crittendon, 24, lingered for 11 days.