Officer Shot In Head Days Before Her Wedding To Be Taken Off Life Support: Police

RICHMOND, IN — An police officer in Indiana who was shot in the head earlier this month will be taken off life support, officials said Wednesday.

Officer Seara Burton was responding Aug. 10 to a traffic stop in the 200 block of North 12th Street in Richmond when she was shot, police said. She underwent surgery in the immediate aftermath of the incident, but was still in critical condition a week later, according to police.

“Despite the very best efforts of all the doctors and nurses at Miami Valley Hospital, Officer Seara Burton’s injuries have been determined to be unrecoverable,” Richmond police leadership said in a Facebook post Wednesday, which indicated Burton would be taken off life support Thursday.

“Seara will live on and continue to be a hero with her selfless gift of organ donation.”

Burton was engaged to Sierra Neal and the two planned to marry this month, according to WTHR.

“Seara is the strongest person I know and she continues to prove that every single day,” Neal said in a Facebook post Aug. 14. “She is the most beautiful human inside and out and anyone who has ever been lucky enough to know her will tell you the same.”

Neal posted a video Aug. 20 on TikTok in which she approached Burton’s hospital bed in her wedding dress, as staff looked on.

“This walk was supposed to look a lot different, but I will always be thankful we still got to celebrate,” the video caption said. “Even if it is not legal on paper, you are my wife.”

Burton was struck at close range when she approached Phillip M. Lee, 47, and he pulled out a gun, WTHR reported, shooting Burton and fleeing as police returned fire. Burton’s K-9 partner, Brev, was not injured and is being cared for by a former K-9 handler, according to authorities.

Indiana State Police are overseeing the case and made an arrest shortly after the shooting, authorities said. Lee is charged with three counts of attempted murder as well as possession of a gun by a violent felon and several drug possession charges, according to court records.