UPDATE: Bibb County Deputy Brad Johnson, wounded in shooting dies
Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall announced Thursday morning that the man wanted in connection with the shooting of two Bibb County Deputies has been captured.
Austin Patrick Hall was at the center of a statewide search Wednesday after the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency (ALEA) issued a Blue Alert.
Hall, a convicted felon, is accused of leading the deputies on a chase in a stolen vehicle. The incident happened around 5 p.m. Deputies said Hall eventually got away on foot in the area of Golfer’s Trail in Brierfield.
Hall is in custody, one deputy is in critical condition at UAB and the other has been released from the hospital after treatment.
Several law enforcement agencies in Alabama posted on Facebook about the shooting.
"Please take a directed moment of thought today for these brave Officers and their families," the Eufaula Police Department posted.
Rick Karle, with WVTM-13, said he spoke to the father of one of the deputies that told him he had been shot in the head and was on life support.
Hall has a criminal history and some state leaders claimed he should've been behind bars at the time of the incident.
“Our prayers are with the two wounded deputies, their families and fellow officers," said State Auditor Jim Zeigler. "We pray for the swift capture of the accused and that no further violence will be done to law enforcement and the public. After that, we need to use this shooting to prompt a hard look at all forms of criminal release. It appears that Hall was not supposed to be out of prison at this time. We need to tighten up accountability for the safety of the public and law enforcement.” READ MORE.
Hall has been criminally charged at least 46 times in the past nine years. He was approved for work release in 2019 while serving a 10-year sentence for theft of property in 2018.
A massive law enforcement response was reported after the shooting. Troopers with ALEA’s Highway Patrol Division, Aviation Unit and Special Agents with ALEA’s State Bureau of Investigation (SBI) along with officers from the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Bibb County Sheriff’s Office, Tuscaloosa County Sheriff’s Office, Perry County Sheriff’s Office, Shelby County Sheriff’s Office, Chilton County Sheriff’s Office, Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office, Wilcox County Sheriff’s Office, Clarke County Sheriff’s Office, Vestavia Hills Police Department, Demopolis Police Department, Thorsby Police Department, Moundville Police Department, Pelham Police Department and officers with the Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources all responded to the scene Wednesday night.
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