Reports are just now coming in from Charleston, West Virginia, that a police officer was ambushed in the line of duty, shot in the face on the afternoon of December 1. Details on this breaking story are still developing.
Officer ambushed in West Virginia
Initial reports about the incident related that the suspect was still at large following the brutal assault.
It’s not yet clear how the officer was ambushed but local police officials confirmed that “a WV Police officer has been shot in the face.” They report that the location of the shooting was “within the 200 block of Garrison Ave in Charleston.”
The suspect who ambushed the officer ” minutes before 3:00 p.m.” apparently “fled the scene after the shooting in a Red Dodge Durango.”
He was headed for I-77 at the time. Bryan Humphries with the Kanawha County Sheriff’s Office issued a follow up statement.
Both the ambushed officer and the suspect remain unidentified at this time but Humphries did explain that according to the preliminary reports, the officer “was shot in the face during the incident by the suspect.”
A short while later, the Kanawha Co Sheriff’s office announced “they have one person detained.”
Kanawha Co Sheriff’s office say they have one person detained.
We are going to hear a statement from officers soon.
— Cassidy Wood (@CassidyWoodTV) December 1, 2020
A parking complaint
Before a press statement from officials filled in gaps, bits and pieces picked up by reporters indicated that the suspect who ambushed the officer “was also shot, but apparently non-fatally, and is currently in custody.”
Later, Charleston Chief of Police Tyke Hunt and Mayor Amy Shuler Goodwin spoke to the public.
“This afternoon, a Charleston Police Officer was shot while in the line of duty, The officer has been transported to the hospital and is in surgery at this time.” They note that it was a female officer who had been ambushed by a male.
Officials confirmed that before being ambushed, the “female CPD officer was responding to parking complaint on Garrison Ave & was shot. She is now at an area hospital for treatment.
The suspect was also shot, presumably by the female officer.” Both the CPD and the Kanawha County Sheriff’s Office are investigating.
