PHOENIX — A manhunt for multiple suspects was underway in the Phoenix area Wednesday after an Arizona Department of Public Safety officer was shot in the face during a traffic stop and responding officers got into a shootout, authorities said.
DPS officials said the wounded officer underwent five hours of surgery at a Phoenix hospital and was in intensive care but in stable condition Wednesday afternoon.
The shooting occurred just before 3 a.m. on or next to an Interstate 17 frontage road in Phoenix as the officer approached a car he stopped for extremely dark tinted windows, officials said.
The wounded officer was able to radio for help, law enforcement spokesmen said.
Other officers arrived a few minutes later, and shots were fired at them from the suspect vehicle. The officers returned fire, but the vehicle left the scene.
Several hours later, a Phoenix Police Department spokesman said authorities had located the vehicle and were searching the vicinity. The spokesman, Officer James Holmes, declined to specify the location.
More than three people — believed to be young adults — were in the vehicle at the time of the shooting, said Bart Graves, Department of Public Safety spokesman.
The officer's name was being withheld, but authorities said he's a six-year veteran.
