Sheriff says carjacking suspect shot, killed in St. Clair County
A man police say carjacked a vehicle at Love's Truck Stop in Steele was shot by law enforcement officers after a chase into Attalla, where he fired on officers before doubling back to St. Clair County, according to St. Clair County Sheriff Billy Murray.
The suspect is dead; his name has not been released by authorities. In a press conference Thursday afternoon, Murray indicated the suspect had a history with law enforcement officers. "Felons and guns do not mix," Murray said, then repeated the comment for those in the Alabama Legislature. "We need support."
Steele police took the initial call at about 11:45 p.m. Wednesday, reporting a man armed with a rifle had carjacked a vehicle from a man at the truck stop. The vehicle soon was spotted by Attalla police.
Attalla Police Chief Dennis Walker said after Steele issued a "be on the look out" for the vehicle, officers saw it and tried to make a traffic stop on Alabama Highway 77. The vehicle didn't stop, he said, and led officers on a chase into the Camp Sibert area, and near Etowah High School.
Walker said shots were fired at the officers, but no one was injured. The suspect got back on Interstate 59, the chief said, and went back into St. Clair County.
St. Clair deputies tried to stop the vehicle using a spike strip, according to Murray. The suspect continued into Springville Station shopping center, where he hit two parked vehicle in the Taco Bell parking lot, then got out of the vehicle, armed with the rifle, and pointed it at deputies and officers, the sheriff said.
He was shot on the scene, Murray said, and died. He said it was a quick ending to the incident. Between the time the stolen vehicle wrecked and the report of shots fired, 14 seconds passed, he said.
The sheriff had words of warning: "Do not point a gun at law enforcement," he said. "If you do, you will be shot. That's the way we train. That's the way we go home safe."
Murray said the victim of the carjacking was not injured, nor were any officers.
"There were people in the Taco Bell," Walker said. "An innocent person could have easily been hurt."
Fortunately, that didn't happen, he said.
The shooting is under investigation by the Jacksonville State University Center for Applied Forensics and the Oxford Police Department. Murray said there is a counseling process the officers involved in the shooting will follow.
Murray said numerous agencies were involve in the responding to the incidents.
This article originally appeared on The Gadsden Times: Carjacking suspect shot and killed after chase, shooting at police
