A Florence, Alabama police officer is recovering after he was ambushed by a driver early Sunday morning.
Officer Brian Berry was stoppled at the intersection of Cox Creek Parkway and Cloverdale Road shortly after midnight when the suspect, identified as Matthey Hall McCravy, pulled up next to him in a black SUV at the traffic signal, according to The Times Daily.
Police Chief Ron Tyler said the man rolled down the passenger window, turned up his music and began to "rap" at the officer and was making statements such as "you better call some backup" and "I don't care who all comes."
When the light turned green, the SUV didn't budge. Berry decided to talk to the driver and exited his vehicle. Since there was a vehicle stopped behind he patrol car, he was unable to back up and pull behind the SUV.
Berry approached the SUV from the rear and asked the driver -- who was bent over in the passenger seat -- for his driver’s license. Suddenly, without any warning, officials say McCravy turned toward the officer with a .45-caliber pistol in his can and fired at close range at his face. The bullet went through Berry's right cheek and out his neck, just below his ear.
The officer was able to return fire at the suspect's vehicle as he fled the scene. He then got back into his cruiser radioed for help and retrieved items from his medical kit to apply pressure to his wound to stop the bleeding.
He was flown to Huntsville Hospital for treatment for a gunshot wound and was released late Sunday afternoon. He is now at home resting and recovering
McCravy took his own life in the parking lot of a church about an hour after the shooting following a short pursuit.
"We’ll never know why, but it was clear that this was an attempt to assassinate Officer Brian Berry," Tyler said.
