ALABAMA – Authorities are on the scene after a person suspected of carjacking was shot by a Poarch Tribal Police officer in south Alabama.
The shooting happened in the parking lot of the Creek Travel Plaza at I-65 and Jacks Springs Road, about a mile from the Poarch Creek Indian Reservation, according to Northescambia.com
The Alabama Law Enforcement Agency said they are investigating the shooting at the request of the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office. Few details have been released but state authorities say one person was taken to the hospital. The officer was not injured.
The ordeal began Thursday night in Wetumpka, said Assistant Police Chief Earl Reeves. Police were called to the Pace Car Gas Station on Highway 231 on a suspicious person. A man there told police he had just been discharged from the hospital and was waiting for a ride and that’s why he was hanging out there. His story checked out, and they told him to continue waiting but not to panhandle or bother anyone.
That as about 5:15 p.m. At 5:41 p.m., a man driving a Nissan Armada pulled in. He left his vehicle running while he went into the store and that’s when the first man got into the vehicle and took off. Reeves said the theft victim had also left an assault rifle in his stolen vehicle.
At 10:30 p.m., Wetumpka police were notified that the Armada had been recovered in Evergreen. The assault rifle, however, was not found with the vehicle. The SUV had been abandoned and the suspect then reportedly carried out three more carjackings in Evergreen and Greenville before encountering Poarch Tribal Police early Friday.
“He went on a crime spree,’’ Reeves said.
Once the investigation is complete, the findings will be turned over to the Escambia County District Attorney’s Office.
This story will be updated if more information becomes available.
