Today a Georgia State Patrol officer was shot after being involved in a high speed chase down I-75. The officer is set to recover but we just got news that the suspect Israel Rodriguez has passed away at Kennstone Hospital.
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 which ended in a 10 mile chase.
“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, I’m 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 I’m like, ‘Oh my God, he got shot.’ It was crazy,” said witness Chelsea Carter.
WSBTV reports, Fields was shot in the lower abdomen below his bullet-proof vest and once in the leg. Rodriguez was shot several times as well.
The highway turned into a crime scene that pushed traffic back for several hours.
Fields was alert and conscious when he got to the hospital. He underwent surgery Wednesday night and is expected to make a full recovery.
Israel Rodriguez passed away at 10:30pm tonight which is the exact time the police officer wrapped up the scene on I-75. Rodriguez faced charges of aggravated assault on a police officer and others related to the pursuit. The GBI is taking over the criminal part of the investigation, they will also do an internal investigation on the incident as well.
