NEW ALBANY, Ind. — A New Albany Police officer is in the hospital after being shot by a suspect police were actively searching for Tuesday morning.
Indiana State Police (ISP) have taken over the investigation.
ISP Sgt. Carey Huls said the situation began when New Albany Police responded to a call Tuesday morning of a woman who was shot at.
Huls said police tracked a suspect, later identified as 29-year-old Barry Sowders, to a neighborhood near 14th and Market Streets.
There, a short foot chase began. Around 11:30 a.m., Huls said Sowders fired on police, hitting Cpl. Andrew Byrne. He said the officer shot back, hitting the suspect.
Sowders then allegedly ran to a nearby home, where law enforcement later found him.
He has been charged with three counts of attempted murder and resisting law enforcement. He has been released to Jefferson County Metro Corrections and is waiting to be sent back to Indiana.
Gordon Tretter, a neighbor and veteran Navy medic, said he heard the shots and ran outside.
"I immediately ran towards to scenario because I knew there was a good chance someone would need aid, and when I got out, just a split second after I left my door, one officer was down," he said.
Tretter said he did what he could to help, acting on instinct, since this type of incident was unexpected in his neighborhood.
"This is totally out of the blue, this is typically a very quiet neighborhood," he said. "Most of the neighbors are gracious gentle people, this is totally out of left field."
Just a block or two away, Ashley Goodson, assistant director at Where Kids Count Childcare, said she heard the shots too.
"When it came this close, it was like our home," she said. "You see all these cops swarming your area and building to protect you, it just blindsided us."
Goodson said she spoke with officials who explained there was an investigation happening, and the daycare went on lockdown.
She wanted to protect the dozen or so kids inside and let their parents know they were okay.
"This is our family in these buildings," Goodson said. "They don't come home to us but we raise them, we teach them, we take care of them 10 to 12 hours a day."
Huls said there is no danger to the public in downtown New Albany.
Both the Byrne and Sowders were taken to the hospital with what ISP believed were non-life threatening injuries. Bryne is currently in fair condition at the hospital according to an ISP release.
Indiana State Police has taken over the investigation, which remains in the early stages.
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