Ashland chief identifies shooting suspect
ASHLAND, Mo. (KMIZ)
UPDATE: Police identified the suspect they are searching for as Eusebio Daniel Barajas-Real in an email around 10 p.m. Wednesday night.
Police attached the following picture of Barajas-Real in the email.
Anyone with information about this man is asked to call 311.
ORIGINAL: "I don't believe this individual is going to come peacefully," said Lyn Woolford, the Ashland police chief.
Ashland police are searching for a man accused of shooting at the direction of an officer and hitting the officer's vehicle.
"We've had a lot of contact with the individual who we think it is," Woolford said.
Around 11 p.m. Tuesday, police were near the area of College Street and Broadway near downtown Ashland when an Ashland officer tried to stop the man while he was on foot, police say. The man allegedly pulled out a gun and shot the officer's vehicle. Police say the window of the cruiser was damaged.
"We're partnered with the sheriff's department on this investigation to follow up on the leads that do exist and to make an apprehension ASAP," Woolford said.
The officer was not injured.
"He's just fine, a little bit too fine I think so once the adrenaline wears off, he doesn't have any physical injuries that we know of, but he may feel some pain he didn't feel," Woolford said." "We've been in touch with him several times and things are good."
Ashland and Columbia police and Boone County sheriff's deputies were searching the area last night with flashlights and a dog.
Authorities were unable to find the man.
"The suspect was on foot and the officer was in the car and so we didn't have any luck making contact," Woolford said.
Police have not released the suspect's name but say he is a man in his 20s, 5'11, 220 pounds, dressed in all black clothing and wearing a mask.
"I'm not at liberty to say (who the suspect is) yet other than a person of interest, just because we want to make sure we're looking for the right person," Woolford said. "We believe that we are but we're withholding that at this point until we know for sure that the individual who we think is the suspect is actually the person of interest."
Police say before the incident, the man did not have a history of violence. He reportedly had some warrants out for his arrest for traffic violations.
We will update this story once we learn any new information.
