COBB COUNTY, Ga.
A Georgia State Patrol trooper is recovering at Kennestone Hospital after police said a suspect shot him following a chase.
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Trooper Jacob Fields, a 3-year veteran of the Georgia State Patrol, was attempting to pull over Israel Vladimir Rodriguez, 26, of Acworth on Interstate 75 near Chastain Road for speeding, when the suspect started to take off.
Capt. Mark Perry with the Georgia State Highway Patrol said the chase lasted about 10 miles. During that time, other troopers helped Fields attempt a box-in maneuver to try and stop the suspect.
Perry said Rodriguez then hit another vehicle in the rear, ending the chase near Delk Road. Rodriguez got out of his truck and started shooting, exchanging gunfire with Fields, Perry said.
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And all of a sudden I saw this black SUV and this black car and they block him in against the concrete wall and then I see, Im watching in my mirror, and the officer jumps out and it sounded like fireworks. It had to have been like 15 shots, it was just like pow, pow, pow, pow, pow. Everyone is like slamming on their brakes and then I look and the officer is like looking down, limping back towards his car. I was on the phone with this guys from work and Im like, Oh my God, he got shot. It was crazy, said witness Chelsea Carter.
Fields was shot in the lower abdomen below his bullet-proof vest and once in the leg. Rodriguez was shot several times as well.
"I think they're going to be out there for most of the evening and they will be positioning their vehicles, setting up blocks. It is in fact a crime scene and it takes a long time to process," Perry said.
