Corinth Police Officer Shot; Manhunt Underway

CORINTH, Miss. (AP) – A manhunt is underway in northern Mississippi for a suspect after a police officer was shot and wounded.

Corinth Police Chief Ralph Dance says in a statement that the officer was shot twice early Wednesday during a confrontation with someone.

Dance says Officer Kevin Parker Jr. is in stable condition at a Tupelo hospital.

Dance says Parker was responding to a prowler call around 2:30 a.m. when a man wearing a backpack crossed in front of his vehicle. Dance says Parker got out of his patrol car, pulled his service weapon and the two struggled over the officer’s gun before the suspect turned the gun toward the officer and started shooting.

Parker was shot in the left shoulder and chest. Dance says the officer’s bulletproof vest stopped the shot to the chest.

Dance says the officer is white and the suspected shooter is black.