CORINTH, Miss. (AP) — A manhunt was underway Wednesday for a suspect who shot a police officer with the officer’s gun when the two got into a struggle, authorities said.
The officer was checking on a report of a prowler at a blind woman’s house when he spotted a man wearing dark clothes and carrying a backpack. When the officer shined a light on the suspect, the man charged the officer, Corinth Police Chief Ralph Dance said.
“They struggled, and the suspect turned the officer’s hand and pulled the trigger twice. The officer never lost his weapon,” the chief said.
Officer Kevin Parker Jr. “was shot in the chest, and the vest protected him. The second shot was in the shoulders,” Dance told the Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal. “The doctors don’t think it hit any bones, and he should recover fine.”
The officer was in good condition at a Tupelo hospital.
“We’ve got an army of people up here looking for the suspect,” Dance said.
Dance said Parker and other officers responded to a prowler call around 2:30 a.m. Wednesday. The officers did not find anyone in the area at that time, but Parker went back about two hours later to check on the blind woman’s house.
After the shots were fired, the suspect, a black man, fled and Parker called for assistance by radio. The officer is white.
While the patrol car does have an in-car camera, Dance said the incident happened so fast that the officer was unable to activate the camera in time.
The shooting was first reported by WTVA-TV in Tupelo.