NITRO, W.Va. — A routine traffic stop became anything but routine early Tuesday morning on I-64 between the Nitro and Cross Lanes exits in Kanawha County.
A patrolman with a K-9 unit in a F-150 cruiser pulled over a vehicle with no license plate around 2 a.m. Almost immediately after they stopped, the suspect started shooting.
“He made the stop, called the stop into Metro 911 and as the officer was starting to get out of his vehicle, the driver of the vehicle leaned out and fired two shots,” said Nitro Police Chief Brian Oxley.
One shot missed, the second hit the rear-view mirror on the driver’s side.
“The first shot did not hit the vehicle, the second shot hit the mirror,” said Oxley. “The officer took cover and returned fire.”
The suspect’s vehicle, a black Ford Mustang, took off east on I-64. Oxley said by the time the officer returned to his pickup truck cruiser there was no way he could catch up to the sports car. All other county officers were notified, but were unable to locate the suspect’s vehicle.
Oxley said they also notified the media and as a result are generating a large number of leads on the vehicle. It’s identified as a late 80s or early 90s model black Ford Mustang.
Neither the officer nor his K-9 partner was injured in the incident. Oxley said the officer remains on regular duty, but is working on a mountain of paperwork. He said all policies appear to have been properly followed in the incident.