NEW ORLEANS (WGNO) — A New Orleans police officer who was shot in the face during a French Quarter ambush in 2020 has died, officials confirmed on Monday.
The New Orleans Police Department says Trevor Abney, an NOPD officer who miraculously survived the attack more than two years ago, died Sunday. The St. Tammany Parish Coroner’s Office ruled Abney’s death as a homicide.
The autopsy revealed the cause of death to be complications from a cerebral gunshot wound. The coroner says the findings are only preliminary as further tests are being done.
In October 2020, Abney was sitting in his patrol car at St. Philip and Royal Streets with his partner, Brooke Duncan, when a man riding in the back of a pedicab shot at the officers. Abney was struck in the face while Duncan sustained lacerations from broken glass.
Surveillance footage from Fawkes Fine Art Gallery, a business located only steps from where the shooting occurred, captured the moment the officers were ambushed. Watch the video below.
Video: Surveillance footage shows NOPD officers ambushed, fired at in French Quarter
The suspect, later identified as Donnell Hassell (now 46), was arrested the next day and charged with two counts of attempted murder of a police officer.
Following the shooting, then-NOPD Superintendent Shaun Ferguson reported it was unclear whether Abney, a four-year veteran of the force at the time, would regain full vision, but that he’d been ‘in good spirits.’
Mayor LaToya Cantrell, who had become a friend to Abney and his family, said she was able to speak to the late officer’s wife on Sunday. Cantrell announced Abney’s passing at the NOPD’s launch of its latest recruitment class on Monday.
“My heart is a little heavy this morning because I’m thinking about one of our officers that went on yesterday, Officer Abney,” the mayor said. “He had a remarkable recovery and definitely just a sad loss to the New Orleans Police Department, family, to the city of New Orleans. And just unexpected. It was unexpected.”
NOPD releases statement following passing of Officer Trevor Abney
All of us here at the New Orleans Police Department are deeply saddened to learn of the death of Senior Police Officer Trevor Abney.
It is always difficult to receive the news of the passing of a fellow officer. Officer Abney was a valued member of the police department who served the community with compassion and professionalism. During his eight years with the department, Officer Abney received a commendation for exemplary performance in the line of duty that saved the life of a citizen as well as the Purple Heart Medal for injuries received in the line of duty.
Officer Abney joined the New Orleans Police Department in 2015. Upon completion of the Academy, he was assigned as a field recruit in the Fifth, Sixth and Eighth districts. In December 2015, he began his permanent assignment in the Eighth District where he continued to serve with distinction until he was wounded. His presence will be greatly missed by all his fellow officers as well as people in the community.
Our most sincere thoughts and prayers are with the family of Officer Abney during this tragic and difficult time.
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