April 06, 2012

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Vest saves Tenn. cop hit by gunshot

A Memphis police officer and a carjacking suspect shot each other after a brief struggle

By Jody Callahan
The Commercial Appeal

A Memphis police officer and a carjacking suspect shot each other after a brief struggle near Raleigh on Wednesday afternoon, officials said.

The 30-year-old officer was wearing a protective vest, though, and is expected to be all right, spokesman Sgt. Karen Rudolph said.

He was still at the Regional Medical Center at Memphis late Wednesday. The officer, whose name was not released, joined MPD in April 2011 and is assigned to the Old Allen Station.

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The 19-year-old suspect was at the Med in critical condition.

The shooting comes almost exactly nine months after MPD officer Tim Warren was shot and killed July 3 by a suspect in a Downtown hotel.

Alexander Haydel was charged with first-degree murder for killing Warren, 39, and another man in that incident.

Wednesday's exchange of gunfire began about 5:10 p.m. when a man waved down a patrol car near James Road, Rudolph said.

The man — who told police he'd been carjacked two days earlier — said he'd just spotted his car in the Lantern Square Apartments near James and Drury Way.

According to Rudolph, the officers pulled into the complex to look for the gray Impala. Shortly afterward, the suspect fled in the car, heading east on James.

Just past Homewood Drive, the suspect ran off the road, police said, driving into some bushes. He then fled the car on foot, heading into a wooded area just across James from the Rivergrove Townhomes.

The two officers, who were partnered in the patrol car, saw him run off and began a foot chase, Rudolph said.

At some point, one of the officers encountered the suspect. The suspect fired a gun, striking the officer in the vest, and the officer returned fire, Rudolph said.

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