On Tuesday evening, a law enforcement official in Georgia suffered a gunshot wound to the head during an exchange of fire with a suspect at a motel. That officer has now been identified as rookie Covington Police Officer Rashad Rivers and he is preparing to undergo surgery. Authorities announced that he is currently at a local hospital and is “awake, alert and in good spirits.”
According to Fox:
Covington Police Officer Rashad Rivers was scheduled to undergo surgery on his jaw Thursday to repair the damage from the gunshot wound, the Covington Police Department said. The officer was struck near his eye, and the bullet lodged in his jaw, law enforcement sources told FOX5 Atlanta.
“We ask that you continue to keep Officer Rivers, his family, our city family and all public safety personnel who were involved in your prayers as the healing process begins,” the department wrote on Facebook.
Rivers had responded to the OYO Hotel on Alcovy Road in Covington around 10:30 p.m. on Tuesday for a reported fight between a couple. When the officer arrived, he saw a man, later identified as 23-year-old Treyvorius Stodghill, with a gun inside a room, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI) said.
Stodghill exchanged gunfire with the officer and the officer was shot, according to the agency. As the suspect pointed a gun at the downed officer, a second officer returned fire, killing Stodghill, investigators said.
The shooting is still under investigation by the GBI. Rivers earned the “Leadership Award” for his class while at the police academy.
