Two West Virginia police officers were shot and wounded Thursday while attempting to stop the driver of a possibly stolen vehicle, an emergency official told the Los Angeles Times.

The Lewisburg, W.Va., police officers were trying to stop the vehicle after a police license-plate scanner reported the vehicle’s tags as stolen, according to Donna Hinkle, administrative director of the Greenbrier County 911 Center.

“Neither one of their injuries, we’ve found out, are going to be life-threatening,” Hinkle said, adding that one of the officers may have been shot in his bullet-proof vest.

When the officers tried to stop the vehicle, a man inside opened fire, Hinkle said. A second man in another vehicle, possibly traveling in tandem with the first vehicle, also started shooting at the officers, Hinkle said.


The officers shot one of the men and arrested him, Hinkle said. The other man fled, ditching his vehicle in the woods about a mile away. A suspect was found after a resident called the police, Hinkle said.

The Lewisburg Police Department couldn’t immediately be reached for comment to confirm the details of the encounter or provide further information.

Emergency radio traffic indicated that officials were still searching the woods in the area for other possible suspects.

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