Associated Press
OZARK, Ala. — A shooting left an Alabama police officer hospitalized in critical condition with a bullet wound and a suspect dead, authorities said Friday.
News outlets reported the gunfire involved a police officer from Ozark in southeast Alabama.
WTVY-TV reported that Ozark police said an officer confronted an armed man walking on a road Thursday night, and the man opened fire on the officer and other police. Officers returned fire, killing the man.
A statement posted on social media by the sheriff’s office in neighboring Houston County said an officer was wounded while on the scene of a call. The officer was taken to a hospital in critical condition.
Authorities haven’t released the names of the officer or the man who was killed.
Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall, the state’s top law enforcement official, tweeted a message asking for prayers for the injured officer.
Neither police nor city officials in Ozark immediately returned phone calls seeking comment. The city, home of the Army’s Fort Rucker training base, is located about 90 miles (145 kilometers) south of Montgomery.