Kentucky hunt for police shootings suspect stretches on, closes schools

By Tim Ghianni

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (Reuters) - A hunt for a fugitive suspected of injuring one police officer and shooting at another has forced the closure of a rural Kentucky school district for two days, authorities said on Tuesday.

Floyd Ray Cook, 62, is accused of attempted first-degree murder after allegedly wounding a police officer in rural Tennessee on Saturday afternoon and shooting at a Kentucky trooper later that day across the border, Kentucky State Police Trooper Billy Gregory said.

State police are "checking the trees and turning over the rocks trying to find this guy," Gregory said of Cook, a Kentucky resident.

Cook is accused of shooting an officer wearing a bullet-resistant vest during a traffic stop in Algood, Tennessee, said Beth Nelson, spokeswoman for the Putnam County Sheriff's Office.

"He absolutely was saved by his vest," Nelson said, adding that the officer suffered minor injuries from the close-range shot and was ready to return to work.

Nelson said Cook was wanted in Kentucky on a methamphetamine charge and has a string of convictions dating back decades.

Cook fled across the border after the Tennessee shooting, where a trooper spotted his vehicle south of Burkesville, Kentucky, Gregory said. Cook evaded a traffic stop, wrecked his vehicle, exchanged fire with the Kentucky trooper and ran away, he said.

The shooting has forced the Cumberland County schools to stay closed on Monday and Tuesday due to safety concerns, the district said on its website.

(Reporting by Tim Ghianni in Nashville; Editing by David Bailey and Bill Trott)