Prattville officers ambushed when answering call

Marty Roney | Montgomery Advertiser

Show Caption Hide Caption Prattville officer shooting Details released about incident where Prattville police officer was shot while answering a domestic violence call.

PRATTVILLE — Two Prattville police officers were ambushed when they entered a home Thursday afternoon answering a domestic violence call, said Police Chief Mark Thompson. One officer survived being shot in the chest, his bullet-resistant vest credited with saving his life.

Sgt. Donnie Martin and Officer Tyler Ray were the first two officers who responded to the call about 1:45 p.m. at 137 Patrick St., Thompson said. Martin is a seasoned officer, and Ray is fresh out of the police academy, graduating in February.

When Martin stepped just inside the house to attempt to arrest William Jerrett Carrico, 44, of that address, Carrico opened fire with a handgun, Thompson said. Carrico in a position “…unseen by Sgt. Martin began firing multiple shots from a 9 mm handgun at the officers,” Thompson said.

More: Police officer shot, suspect dead in Prattville

Martin was struck once in the chest, with the round being stopped by his vest, Thompson said. He received bruising and other “minor” injuries, Thompson said in the immediate aftermath of the incident.

Both officers have since returned to duty, the chief said.

Listen: Prattville Police radio traffic during shooting RAW AUDIO: Here is the scanner traffic that took place during the shooting in Prattville on June 8. Images by Mickey Welsh and Marty Roney. Video was edited to remove dead air.

Carrico was found about an hour later in a back bedroom of the home, dead of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound, Thompson said. Martin and Ray didn’t return fire, because they couldn’t see Carrico during the incident, he said.

Prattville officers were unfamiliar with Carrico before answering the call at that address, Thompson said. Witnesses said he had been drinking heavily that day, and his family said he had “mental health” issues, Thompson said.

More: Police shooting hits home in tight-knit Prattville

“He was not on our radar,” Thompson said. “We have several (people) that we have had problems with and we put it in our system to be alerted if we have to deal with them. But this subject was not known to us at this time, until this happened.”

The victim in the case is a 42-year-old woman, who was a roommate of Carrico, Thompson said. The two weren’t in a dating relationship, but Alabama’s domestic violence law covers roommates, he said. The cause of the argument between the two that led to the original call is still under investigation, he said.

Officers surrounded the home after the shooting. The U.S. Marshalls provided a robot to enter the home and the robot discovered Carrico in the bedroom, Thompson said. The tactical team from the Prattville Police Department made entry into the home after the robot was sent in to find out if Carrico was dead or incapacitated, he said.

Carrico’s body has been sent to the Alabama Department of Forensic Sciences for autopsy. The results of the autopsy haven’t been received, Thompson said.

Several dozen law enforcement officers from local, state and federal agencies raced to Prattville on Thursday when the call went out that an officer had been shot.

“We want to thank all the agencies involved that responded,” Thompson said.

The community has rallied behind the police department, said Mayor Bill Gillespie Jr.

“It just shows how tight a community Prattville really is,” the mayor said. “We cannot control what’s thrown at us from time to time. But what we can do is control how we handle that. I’m very proud of how our citizens have reached out and made it known how important our first responders are.

“So continue to pray for us all. But thank you to everyone who has reached out.”