TAMPICO, Ind. (AP) - A southern Indiana police officer is recovering after being shot twice, then returning fire and wounding the gunman, police said.
Officer Rick Meyer was released from an Indianapolis hospital after being treated for his wounds from the Thursday evening shooting, the Jackson County Sheriff’s Department said
Meyer was attacked after responding a report of suspicious people near the rural community of Tampico about 40 miles north of Louisville, Kentucky, Sheriff Mike Carothers said.
Meyer was talking with one of the men along Indiana 39 when the other emerged from under a nearby bridge and opened fire, sheriff’s Lt. Andy Wayman told The Tribune of Seymour.
Meyer was wounded both shoulders above his protective vest but was able to return fire and hit the gunman in the arm, Carothers said. Another officer soon arrived and was able to take both men into custody.
“To be shot in both shoulders and be in that good of condition, a guardian angel was looking out for him,” Carothers told WTHR-TV.
Meyer, 46, is a seven-year veteran of the sheriff’s department, Wayman said.
The wounded man was taken to an Indianapolis hospital in custody, while the other man was jailed on a Jennings County arrest warrant, Wayman said.
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