A shot in Auburn, Alabama, leaves one dead and two injured among police officers

May 20, 2019, 10:53 UTC / Update May 20, 2019, 11:51 UTC

By Garrett Haake, Kimberly Flores Guzman, Kurt Chirbas and Alexander Smith

AUBURN, Alabama – Police launched a manhunt against an armed suspect wearing camouflage clothing and protective armor after one policeman was shot dead and two others wounded in a trailer park. Alabama Sunday night.

The officers were shot dead while responding to reports of family unrest at Arrowhead Mobile Home Park in Auburn, officials said.

One of the officers died later in the emergency room, said Bill Harris, the Lee County coroner. The other two are expected to recover, the police said.

Authorities are now looking for a suspect named Grady Wayne Wilkes, according to Paul Register, head of the Auburn Police Department. Wilkes is "armed and considered dangerous," said the chief.

He added that the authorities would do "all that is necessary" to detain him.

"It's probably the worst day of my time here and the words can not express the loss for this family, as well as for our family and this community," said Register, at a press conference.

The state of Alabama has launched a blue emergency alert triggered by the killing or death of a law enforcement officer and the fact that his attacker is still at large, asking the public to help him to locate Wilkes.

She described him as a 29-year-old white man measuring 6 feet 4 inches and weighing 215 pounds. He was last seen at the trailer park, wearing camouflage clothing, armor and a helmet.

It "is considered a serious risk to the public," he said.

Haake reported to Auburn, Flores Guzmán and Chirbas in New York, Smith in London.