VIDEO: Boston Officer Shot in Face, Condition Improving

Officer John T. Moynihan could be out of intensive care and on his feet in days after the bullet that was shot into his face was surgically removed from his neck yesterday, Boston's police commissioner said, as authorities try to get to the bottom of why ex-con Angelo West opened fire.

"A lot of people think he didn't want to go back to jail," police Commissioner William B. Evans said. "He's done some time in jail before. He's had multiple convictions. Obviously, he was ready to take that officer's life, and it's troubling. But, you know, I don't know what his motives were, but obviously, he had no good intentions."

West, 41, was killed in a gunbattle with police after shooting Moynihan in the face, police say. He had been pulled over at 6:40 p.m. Friday by gang cops who were checking a report of shots fired, reports the Boston Herald.

But exactly what West and his two passengers were up to, where they were coming from and where they were going remains "an active part of the investigation," said Evans. He noted West had a "violent history" that included a prior shooting at police and prison time.

Evans said he wants to make public the surveillance video that captured the stop and the shooting as early as this week.