Published September 27, 2017 11:20am EDT
Troopers: Woman shot at officers checking interstate wreck
BENSON, N.C. – Officers investigating a crash shot a 50-year-old woman on the side of a North Carolina interstate Saturday after she shot at them first, the Highway Patrol said.
Details about the 6:30 a.m. shooting on the side of Interstate 40 were both sparse and confusing.
At first, a news release from the Highway Patrol said Tina Medlin was dead. Seven hours later, Sgt. Mike Baker sent a release saying Medlin was still alive, but in critical condition with no explanation for the mistake.
The officers who shot Medlin were investigating an SUV crash in the westbound lanes around mile marker 337 near Benson, Baker said.
Medlin was lying on the interstate holding a gun and then fired at Trooper J. L. Taylor and Johnston County deputy Taylor Davis, who fired back, Baker said.
The officers were not injured and have been placed on administrative leave as the State Bureau of Investigation looks into the shooting.
The bureau issued its own news release, asking anyone who saw Medlin's off-white GMC Yukon Denali "traveling unusually, such as above or below the posted speed limit, moving erratically, or as it left the interstate" to call authorities.
TV footage of the shooting scene showed the SUV turned sideways off the side of the interstate with damage to its front bumper.
I-40 westbound was closed for several hours as authorities collected evidence.