A Tennessee police officer got the scare of his life when a suspect fired at him from his truck during a stop.
Putnam County Sheriff’s Department spokeswoman Beth Nelson said Officer Ahscari Valencia of the Algood Police Department in Tennessee was shot and a bulletproof vest likely saved his life. A video of the incident, which took place in October 2015, was posted online by officials this week.
The suspect, 62-year-old Floyd Cook, was stopped by Valencia. When he asks Cook his name and what he was doing, Cook puts his car in reverse to which Valencia asks, “You got your car in reverse?” Cook then nods his head in confirmation.
When Valencia asks him why, Cook takes out a black handgun and fires at least 10 shots. One of them hits Valencia, who drops to the ground.
“The shot that came out of Cook’s gun hit him [Valencia] right in the chest, where his heart would have been,” said Algood Police Chief Gary Harris, reported WKRN-TV. “It was a .45. So if he hadn’t had that vest on, it would have probably killed him.”
Valencia has since been transferred to Tennessee Tech University in Cookeville.
Cook wasn’t captured, and he was added to the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation’s Top 10 Most Wanted list. Later, he was shot and killed by Kentucky officers after firing at them a week later.
Algood Police Chief Gary Harris told NewsChannel5 that the body camera footage “was terrifying.”
“He did everything by the book, and I am proud of that,” Harris said of Valencia.
