{"id":112416,"date":"2026-01-09T22:59:10","date_gmt":"2026-01-09T22:59:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/112416\/"},"modified":"2026-01-09T22:59:10","modified_gmt":"2026-01-09T22:59:10","slug":"port-st-lucie-police-officer-shot-in-face-during-ambush-shooting-released-from-hospital","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/112416\/","title":{"rendered":"Port St. Lucie Police officer shot in face during ambush shooting released from hospital"},"content":{"rendered":"

PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. \u2014 Sergeant Erik LeVasseur<\/a> of the Port St. Lucie Police Department has returned home after spending 37 days in the hospital recovering from critical injuries sustained in a December shooting, CBS 12 reported.<\/a> <\/p>\n

LeVasseur was released on Jan. 8 from HCA Florida Lawnwood Hospital. Photos shared by the department show him walking alongside his wife, flanked by fellow officers and medical staff.<\/p>\n

| DOWNLOAD: 26 on 2026: A police leadership playbook<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cThis journey has been a long and painful road \u2014 not only for Erik, but for his family, who have carried this weight with unwavering strength, faith, and love,\u201d the department said in a statement. \u201cTheir resilience has inspired an entire city.\u201d<\/p>\n

LeVasseur was shot twice in the face on Dec. 1, 2025<\/a>, when 32-year-old Frankie Salvatore Riccio opened fire with an AK-47-style rifle after emerging from a garage. The bullets struck near and beneath LeVasseur\u2019s nose, narrowly missing major arteries and brain tissue. Officers returned fire with 62 rounds, killing Riccio at the scene.<\/p>\n

LeVasseur was rushed to surgery, where his jaw was wired shut and a tracheostomy was performed. He later underwent eye surgery to remove shrapnel and additional procedures to extract bullet fragments. While he currently has no vision, doctors have said future reconstructive and eye surgeries could improve his condition. Importantly, there were no signs of brain damage.<\/p>\n

On Dec. 15, LeVasseur was moved to a confidential rehabilitation facility to continue his recovery. His release marks a significant step forward, though his medical journey is ongoing. <\/p>\n

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January 05, 2026 12:41 PM<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. \u2014 Sergeant Erik LeVasseur of the Port St. Lucie Police Department has returned home…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":112417,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[171,173,172],"class_list":{"0":"post-112416","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-port-st-lucie","8":"tag-port-st-lucie","9":"tag-port-st-lucie-headlines","10":"tag-port-st-lucie-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/112416","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=112416"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/112416\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/112417"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=112416"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=112416"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=112416"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}