The Associated Press
BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) -- Three police officers wounded in a shootout with a 16-year-old boy were recovering on Saturday, police said.
The teenager was also shot in the Friday night incident and he was in a hospital on Saturday, Cpl. Mary Ann Godawa, a police spokeswoman. Because he was a minor, Godawa declined to discuss his condition or identify him.
The shooting followed a high-speed chase that ended with the 16-year-old crashing his vehicle, Godawa said. She said he shot at the officers when they approached his vehicle.
The chase started after the boy’s parents reported that he had stolen their sport utility vehicle at gunpoint, Godawa said.
The chase drew dozens of Baton Rouge police officers and East Baton Rouge Parish sheriff’s deputies, who weaved in and out of traffic to get to the scene.
The names of the officers were withheld pending an investigation, Godawa said. She said the officers would be put on administrative leave during the probe.
Two officers were treated and released from hospital on Friday night and the third officer remained in the hospital on Saturday, Godawa said.
“Fortunately the injuries the officers received were not life-threatening,” Godawa said. “It could have been much worse.”