Bradenton, Florida: Officer in ICU With Brain Injury After Driver Struck Two Officers at a Wawa

A Bradenton police officer is in intensive care with a traumatic brain injury after a driver struck two officers with his vehicle outside a Wawa early on Sunday, Nov. 8, the Bradenton Police Department said. A second officer suffered a lower body injury and has been released from the hospital.

A call about a man with a gun

Officers went to the Wawa at First Street and Sixth Avenue East shortly after 3:20 a.m. on Sunday after a report of a man with a gun harassing customers, according to the Bradenton Police Department. Police said the driver struck the two officers with his vehicle while trying to leave the store. Two other Bradenton police officers fired at the vehicle as it got away.

The officer in intensive care is a senior patrol officer, the department said. Police have not released the name of either injured officer. FOX 13 reported that department spokeswoman Meredith Censullo said the officer hurt most seriously faces a long road to recovery, and that the second officer was also taken to a hospital with injuries that were not described in detail in the first hours after the incident.

Pursuit to the Skyway Bridge and back

Police said the driver headed toward the Sunshine Skyway Bridge and then turned back toward Bradenton. Officers from the Bradenton Police Department pursued the vehicle, with help from the Manatee County Sheriff's Office and the Florida Highway Patrol. The pursuit ended when the vehicle crashed at First Street and 10th Avenue West in Bradenton, police said. The driver was taken to a hospital with injuries police described as minor and not life threatening.

Suspect named and taken to jail

In an update later on Sunday, police identified the suspect as Dejerrian D. Murray, 35. After his release from the hospital, Murray was booked into the Manatee County Jail, police said.

Murray faces two counts of aggravated battery on a law enforcement officer with a deadly weapon, according to the department. Police listed the other charges as fleeing or attempting to elude a law enforcement officer at high speed or with wanton disregard, hit and run with serious bodily injury, hit and run with injury, reckless driving causing serious bodily injury, violation of probation and resisting arrest without violence. The charges are allegations. Murray is presumed innocent unless prosecutors prove the case in court.

The Florida Department of Law Enforcement is investigating the shots fired by the officers, police said. The Bradenton Police Department said the investigation remains active and that it will release more information when it is appropriate to do so.