Suspects on run after shooting at cop through sunroof with high-powered rifle, NC police say
Two suspects are still at large east of Charlotte after, police say, one of them shot a police car during an attempted traffic stop.
As soon as a police officer hit the blue lights to pull over the black Lexus Sunday, a man stood up through the sunroof and started shooting, police in Albemarle, North Carolina, say.
The suspects made it about 50 miles but then saw police setting up a barricade with stop strips, so they pulled over and ran into the woods, WSOC reported.
Police found the car with a shotgun inside, WNCN reported. Police also found an AK-47 nearby, according to the WSOC.
“We’ve been searching that area since 1 o’clock today once we got enough staff here to do a search, utilizing a canine from Richmond County. Montgomery Sheriff’s Office has been here, Candor police, Troy police, Carthage police, a lot of other agencies helping out,” the sheriff told WNCN.
Police searched the area with a helicopter and bloodhounds, WSOC reported. As of Monday morning, no arrests were listed in the shooting.
Three shots hit the police car, but the officer was not hurt, before the suspects in the stolen Lexus made their escape, the department said in a post on Facebook.
“We are very fortunate, very thankful that the officer didn’t get struck, or even killed, because they were using a high-powered rifle, which is extremely dangerous,” Albemarle Police Chief Danny Bowen told WSOC. “Handguns are dangerous, but rifles even more so. It was just a dangerous situation.”
Bullets hit the police car’s windshield in front of the driver, the hood of the car and in the radiator, disabling the car, according to WBTV. Another bullet ricocheted off the police car and hit someone in another car, the station reported.
That person was treated on the scene by paramedics and released, WBTV noted.
The incident started in Albemarle, east of Charlotte, with reports of a drive-by shooting, Moore County Sheriff Neil Godfrey told WNCN.
This story was originally published November 12, 2018 at 12:04 PM.