WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – Authorities say a police officer in North Carolina is recovering from multiple gunshot wounds after a traffic stop led to a struggle with a motorist.
Police Chief Barry Rountree said 27-year-old Officer Nicholas Wayne Powell was shot around 2 a.m. Monday after he and another officer tried to investigate the smell of marijuana from a stopped car.
Rountree said the two officers ordered three men from the vehicle, but one tried to get back in and drive away.
The police chief said Powell reached for the car's door and was dragged about a quarter-mile. Rountree says the suspect then got out and grappled with Powell before shooting the officer several times and himself once.
The wounds are not believed to be life-threatening. The suspect hasn't yet been charged.
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