After he was shot, Vernon was taken to DePaul Hospital in Bridgeton. A hospital spokeswoman was unavailable Tuesday morning to provide an update on the officer's condition.

Haarmann on Monday said that Vernon was "in and out of consciousness," adding "He's not nearly out of the woods."

Vernon, who hails from Springfield, has spent seven years with the Florissant police, three as a corrections officer and four as a patrolman. He's an Army veteran who served two tours in Iraq, and is married with no children.

Haarmann said that Vernon's family was at his bedside. The Missouri Highway Patrol flew Vernon's mother to the hospital to be with her son, and drove his in-laws here. Other relatives who live out of state are heading here also, he said.

Vernon is married, but has no children, Karabas said.

According to Missouri court records, Cannon pleaded guilty in 2010 to burglaries and theft in Ladue and Clayton. In both cases, a St. Louis County judge sentenced Cannon to seven years in prison, but he got a suspended execution of sentence and was given five years' probation and 120-day "shock time" in jail.

Kim Bell of the Post-Dispatch contributed to this report.

EDITOR'S NOTE: This article has been updated to reflect corrections to earlier information released by authorities. Florissant Police Chief William Karabas' name, which was misspelled in an earlier version of this story, has also been corrected.

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