WINSTON-SALEM, N.C.—
One of two police officers shot as they pursued a suspect along Peters Creek Parkway on Wednesday morning was in critical but stable condition after surgery at Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center later in the day. The other officer remained in serious condition at the hospital.Sgt. Mickey Hutchens, 50, was critically injured as he and Officer Daniel Clark, 28, chased a suspect into a creek behind a Bojangles restaurant and other businesses in the 1500 block of Peters Creek Parkway around 10:30 a.m.
Early Thursday morning, police spokesman Lt. David Lamb said Hutchens remained in critical but stable condition and was in the Intensive Care Unit at Baptist hopsital. Clark remains remained in serious condition, but according to Lamb, he was doing "much better" Thursday morning.
The suspect, identified as Monte Denard Evans of Winston-Salem by police, was killed. He also was taken to Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center.
According to Assistant Chief Barry Rountree, police received a call from a female employee at the Bojangles on Peters Creek Parkway saying she had seen her ex-husband, who was apparently wanted on outstanding warrants.
The two officers responded and pursued Evans on foot into Salem Creek, where they were both shot. The suspect was shot and killed. Investigators have not said if Evans had a gun.
Witnesses reported hearing six or seven gunshots, and the owner of Alpha Commercial Printing, Daryl Hinshaw, watched the chase and said he saw one officer down.
An employee at Precision Auto said that he saw a man pacing outside the auto shop, then saw the man go to the Bojangles restaurant nearby. The restaurant manager apparently called police. The suspect ran behind Precision Auto, dropped a red backpack and ran into Salem Creek. More information from the Winston-Salem Journal.
Several dozen police cars and ambulances were at or near the Bojangles at 1535 Peters Creek Parkway, while the street was blocked to traffic. One lane has since been opened to traffic. Area businesses were placed under lock down.
"It chokes me up a little bit -- the audacity of someone pulling a gun and possibly ending the two cops' lives," said Chris Mosely, who was watching the investigation along Peters Creeek Parkway. "They're just doing their jobs."
The State Bureau of Investigation is now the lead agency in the investigation, Rountree said.
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