2 suspects wounded in Pensacola police gunfire

PENSACOLA, Fla. (WALA) - Two Pensacola police officers are on paid administrative leave after they were involved in a shooting on Thursday, Dec. 6.

Pensacola Police Chief Chip Simmons said it all began when two officers noticed two suspicious men at the front door of a home on Whitney Drive.

He said patrols had been stepped up since November 27, where there have been 21 reported residential burglaries. Officials say nine of the burglaries occurred within the area of Bayou Boulevard and 12th Avenue.

The officers approached the two men and tried to ask them what they were doing. Chief Simmons said the men ignored the officers and got into a vehicle.

Simmons said the suspect’s sped toward the officers, leading them to open fire.

“You now, every time you turn on the news those things happen,” said a resident, Robert Caldwell, who claims one of the bullets hit his window.  “This time it happened in my front yard so that's the way it is.”

A second neighbor Terah Bryant said she heard between six and seven gunshots while she was inside her home.

“My heart was beating pretty fast once I realized that it was actually gunshots,” she said. “Then the police came quickly afterwards and got everything taped off.”

After a brief chase through the neighborhood, police said the two suspects abandoned their vehicle and fled on foot. They were caught a short time later.

The vehicle had been reported as stolen to the Escambia County Sheriff's Office.

Chief Simmons said both suspects were hit in the gunfire. They were taken to a local hospital for treatment. Charges are pending their release from the hospital.

In addition, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement will conduct an investigation of the officer related shootings, which is standard procedure.