(DAYTONA BEACH, Fla.) — A police officer is in critical condition after he was reportedly shot in the head while he was investigating a suspect who was allegedly involved in a suspicious incident.
The shooting happened sometime on Wednesday evening when an officer from the Daytona Beach Police Department was responding to investigate a suspicious incident on Kinston Avenue in Daytona Beach, Florida, according to a statement released by the Daytona Beach Police Department.
Authorities released a 29-second clip from the officer’s body camera and the unnamed police officer can be seen approaching the suspect who is sitting in a parked car before the shooting.
“How’s it going? Do you live here,” the cop asks the suspect who immediately gets out of his car and stands up.
“What’s going on? What’s going on now? Don’t do this. Why are you asking me if I live here,” the suspect, later identified by the Daytona Beach Police as 29-year-old Othal Wallace, can be heard saying as the officer repeatedly asks him to sit back down in his car.
“Do you live here, yes or no,” the officer says before a short struggle between the suspect and the officer takes place.
The last thing that can be heard is the officer yelling “Stop! Stop man!” before a gunshot is heard and the police officer falls to the ground.
“Tonight, one of our officers radioed that he was on Kingston Ave investigating a suspicious incident,” said the Daytona Beach Police Department in a statement regarding the incident. “After several minutes passed, the officer stopped responding to other units calling him on the radio. Officers responded to his location where he was found lying on the ground suffering from a gunshot wound.”
The officer was immediately transported to Halifax Medical Center where he is currently listed in critical condition.
“A $100,000 reward is now available for anyone who can help authorities locate the man who shot one of our officers in the head earlier this evening,” said the Daytona Beach Police Department.
A multi-agency manhunt is now underway for Wallace and authorities say that he may be in a gray 2016 Honda HRV with a California tag of 7TNX532.
Anybody with any information regarding the shooting or Wallace’s whereabouts is urged to call 911 and not approach him because he is considered to be armed and dangerous.
“Please keep our officer and his family in your prayers,” said the the Daytona Beach Police Department. “This is an ongoing investigation and more information will be released as soon as it’s available.”
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