"You're only going to win a war if you have a good partnership, and right now the local police officers don't have that,'' he said. "The officer had every right to shoot him. A tussle followed and the suspect assaulted hit the detective in the head with his own weapon. Heath Boackle, a sergeant with the Birmingham Police Department and president of the city's Fraternal Order of Police, said Thursday that cops are "walking on eggshells because of how they're scrutinized in the media." "He calls for backup and tells the man to stay in the car, but he didn't," Boackle told CNN in a phone interview. Police today identified the suspect as 34-year-old Janard Shamar Cunningham, also known as Janaris Shavar Cunningham. The detective considered using force but thought better of it and continued his call when Cunningham hit him, Boackle said. Police have not publicly released the name of the detective, but said he was released from UAB Hospital Friday evening without being held overnight. He's recovering at home and has not yet returned to duty, Boackle said. Chief calls reaction 'absolutely inhumane' 
 
 Adding insult to injury: several bystanders, instead of helping, took pictures of the bloodied officer as he was facedown on the concrete and posted the images on social media, where the officer was mocked. Not long after the attack, photos began to surface on social media showing the detective lying face down on the pavement. Cunningham got out of the vehicle despite the officer's demands, and began to question the detective about why he was being stopped. "We're lucky we're not talking about an officer who was shot and killed with his own weapon." Birmingham Police say this Detective was pistol whipped Friday after stopping a vehicle at 9150 Parkway East. A Center Point man with a violent past is now charged with attempted murder in the pistol-whipping of a Birmingham police detective during a traffic stop Friday morning. The second man taken in to custody with Cunningham has not been charged with any crime, Thurmond said today. Tracking dogs were brought in to help search for a possible third suspect, but authorities later said they believed there was no remaining suspect.
– An Alabama police detective says he was pistol-whipped into unconsciousness with his own gun because he didn't want to be the newest cop vilified for killing an unarmed man, CNN reports. "I hesitated because I didn't want to be in the media," he says. The Birmingham detective, whose name has not been released, stopped a car for driving erratically on the freeway last Friday. The driver allegedly defied orders to remain in his vehicle and began questioning the detective about why he was stopped. A scuffle ensued, and police say the driver grabbed the detective's gun and beat him with it, reports al.com. The attack left the officer in the hospital with a concussion and staples in his head. Other officers eventually arrested 34-year-old Janard Shamar Cunningham and charged him with attempted murder. The union president for the police department tells the New York Daily News that officers on the street "are walking on egg shells" because of the media, and the pistol-whipped detective agrees. He says "a lot of officers are being too cautious." The Daily News reports photos of the injured officer taken by bystanders went viral on social media, with many people mocking the officer and police.