Illinois police officer shot and wounded near St. Louis

PONTOON BEACH, Ill. (AP) — Authorities say a man shot and seriously wounded a police officer Tuesday at a gas station in an Illinois suburb of St. Louis. Police say the Pontoon Beach officer was shot at around 8 a.m. at a Speedway gas station along Route 111 near its junction with Interstate 270 and was rushed to Saint Louis University Hospital. Michael Fillback, the police chief in neighboring Edwardsville, told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch that the officer was in “bad shape.” State Police Trooper Jayme Bufford says the Pontoon Beach officer had approached a car in the gas station’s parking lot because he suspected it had been stolen, and that a man began firing on him. The suspect was taken into custody.