DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Almost two weeks ago, Daytona Beach officer Jason Raynor was shot in the line of duty, and he remains in the hospital.
On Tuesday, over 100 volunteers showed up on Tuesday to Halifax Health and rolled up their sleeves in honor of the Daytona Beach police officer who was shot in the head last month.
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Halifax Health, where Raynor continues to receive treatment, hosted the blood drive with OneBlood.
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Three OneBlood “Big Red Busses” were parked outside of the hospital. First responders and Central Florida residents showed up to give blood throughout the day.
“We know what happened with the police officer so we felt this is an extra need to come out today,” donor Maureen Petersen said.
Petersen, a retired New York police officer, and her daughter, Lauren, showed up to honor Raynor in a way that will help many.
“There’s a national blood shortage after COVID,” Lindsay Martin, Director of Nursing for Halifax Medical Center’s Trauma and Emergency Services said. “We saw with the social distancing that people couldn’t gather so we saw with a lot of the blood drives people weren’t coming out for those.”
Martin organized the drive, wanting to support Raynor, and after seeing this shortage affect patients with serious cases like his.
“It’s time to come back out and start donating blood so that if you were to be a trauma patient in our community, you could get the blood that you need,” she said.
Police said Raynor was shot in the head the night of June 23 while responding to a suspicious incident. Authorities caught the suspected gunman, Othal Wallace, hiding in a Georgia treehouse several days later. He’s now in the Volusia County jail.
Raynor remains in critical condition after he was shot, according to the Volusia County Sheriff’s Office.
Wallace, faces a charge of attempted murder of a law enforcement officer, according to court records. The FBI said he could also face federal charges.