It's been 10 years since former Alexandria police officer Peter Laboy was nearly killed when a fleeing suspect shot him in the head.
Laboy said he marked the anniversary Monday by having lunch with the first responders who helped save his life on Feb. 27, 2013. The group included Alexandria paramedics and the helicopter pilot that rushed him from Old Town to Medstar.
Laboy was on motorcycle patrol in Old Town when he began to pull over a taxi driver wanted for suspicious activity. The suspect – Kashif Bashir – shot Laboy in the head. Bashir led police on a chase before he crashed and was arrested in the Mt. Vernon area.
Alexandria's first-responders began immediate life-saving measures on Laboy, as he lay bleeding near Lyles Crouch Elementary. The U.S. Park Police Eagle 1 helicopter detoured from its detail to land on the school's playground and then rushed Laboy to Medstar Washington Hospital Center.
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Laboy spent weeks in the hospital and months in rehab. The traumatic brain injury he suffered made it impossible for him to return to the police force and he retired in 2015.
In October 2014, an Alexandria judge found Bashir not guilty by reason of insanity. He was sent to a secure psychiatric facility.
He was later convicted of arson and is serving a life prison term.
