New Albany police officer hospitalized following a Tuesday morning shooting

Rae Johnson, Louisville Courier Journal
Updated ·2 min read
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A New Albany, Indiana, police officer is hospitalized after being injured in a shooting Tuesday morning.

The New Albany Police Department said the officer injured was New Albany Police Corporal Andrew Byrne, and that his injuries are not life threatening and he is expected to recover. The department said the officer shot Barry Sowders while returning fire.

Sowders, 29, is charged with three counts of attempted murder and resisting law enforcement, Chief Todd Bailey, of the New Albany Police Department, said in a Facebook post. He was treated at the University of Louisville Hospital and then taken to Jefferson County Metro Corrections. He is waiting to be taken to Indiana.

At roughly 11:30 a.m., officers from several local and Indiana state agencies responded to a shooting near 14th and East Market streets, according to Indiana State Police spokesperson Sgt. Carey Huls.

Police were investigating a separate shooting in a residential neighborhood in which an individual reported being shot at when officers encountered a different individual who fled the scene on foot. Huls said the person exchanged gunfire with the unnamed officer.

Mayor Jeff Gahan said he praised Byrne for his bravery while on the job and that he spoke to him in the afternoon and was "in good spirits." He said he plans to visit him on Wednesday.

Huls previously said both the officer and the other individual were taken to University of Louisville Hospital with what are believed to be non-life-threatening injuries.

The New Albany city government advised people to avoid areas around Main and Spring Streets and Vincennes and 13th Streets in a Facebook status earlier in the day due to a police "pursuit of an armed person" with a description of the suspect.

Huls, however, would not confirm if the suspect in New Albany's Facebook post was connected to the shooting but said police did not believe there was any danger to the public.

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Contact reporter Rae Johnson at RNJohnson@gannett.com. Follow them on Twitter at @RaeJ_33.

This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Police: New Albany officer shot, hospitalized