Trooper shot in Chicopee is John Vasquez

CHICOPEE, Mass. (WWLP) - State Trooper John Vasquez is recovering from being shot in the hand and leg during a standoff with a suspect in downtown Chicopee Friday morning.

According to State Police Col. Marian McGovern, Vasquez is a 20-year veteran of the Massachusetts State Police . He has always been assigned to work in western Massachusetts.

Another trooper and a Chicopee police officer helped Vasquez to a Chicopee police cruiser, which the suspect then shot at, Chicopee Police Chief John Ferraro said. Trooper Vasquez and the other two made it safely to Baystate Medical Center, where he underwent surgery and is now recovering.

McGovern said Vasquez has a wife and a teenaged son.

Chicopee Mayor Michael Bissonnette expressed his admiration and well-wishes for Vasquez and his family.

"Trooper Vasquez, our prayers and thoughts to him and his family, and to the rogue men and women in law enforcement throughout New England who each day get up and put on a badge and a gun and go out that door on our behalf, not knowing if they're coming home," Bissonnette said.

The trooper was also known to those of us here at 22News, as he previously worked with doing police ride-alongs, and providing information about issues like street racing.