A Carroll County man is under police guard at a hospital where he is being treated for what is believed to be a non-life threatening gunshot wound he sustained when he attempted to run over a police officer and a woman the officer was trying to protect.

Due to the preliminary stage of the investigation, neither the officer nor the suspect is being identified at this time.  The officer is an 11-year veteran of the Taneytown Police Department.  Criminal charges are pending against the suspect, who is expected to be charged later today.  

Shortly before 10:30 p.m. on July 8, an officer from the Taneytown Police Department was dispatched to the 400-block of Baltimore Street, Taneytown, for a report of a woman who needed assistance.  When the police officer checked the area, he drove down Break Iron Road, an access road between a grocery store and a strip shopping center. The officer saw a woman lying in the roadway.  He exited his marked patrol car and asked the screaming woman if she needed help.

Within moments, the police officer saw a 1992 Acura Integra, driven by the suspect, accelerating toward him and the woman.  The officer, who was in full uniform, ordered the driver to stop.  The driver continued to accelerate toward the officer and the woman.  In fear for his life and the life of the woman, the officer fired his police department issued .40 caliber pistol at the driver. 

The car came to rest a short distance away.  The officer approached the driver and saw he had been wounded in the arm.  EMS units responded and treated the suspect.  He was flown by a Maryland State Police helicopter to the R Adams Cowley Shock Trauma Center.  He is expected to survive.  Neither the police officer nor the woman was injured.  

A motive for the incident is unknown.  Apparently the suspect and the woman were acquaintances. Upon being notified of the incident, Taneytown Police Chief William Tyler responded to the scene.  Chief Tyler requested the incident be investigated by the Maryland State Police.  State Police investigators from the Homicide Unit are conducting the investigation, with assistance from criminal investigators from the Westminster Barracks.  Maryland State Police crime scene technicians responded to process the scene.  

While conducting the investigation, Maryland State Police arrested a man who arrived at the scene and became disorderly.  Police also did a check on the female victim in this case and found that she was wanted on warrants from Harford County.  She was also taken into custody.  
 
As per procedure, Chief Tyler placed the officer involved in the shooting on paid administrative leave while the investigation continues.

Additional information will be released later including identities and charges against the suspect.  The investigation is continuing.