Man arrested after Mississippi deputy shot in back

OAK GROVE, Miss. (AP) — A sheriff said a Mississippi man will be charged with attempted capital murder after shooting a Lamar County sheriff’s deputy in the back hours and hitting another deputy’s police vehicle.

A deputy, named by WDAM-TV as Steve Pazos, was shot and wounded Friday night while investigating an auto burglary in Oak Grove, just outside Hattiesburg. The shooting happened when Pazos got out of his car after a chase, the Lamar County Sheriff’s Office said.

Pazos was taken to a hospital but later released, the sheriff’s office said.

Troy Prenell Johnson, 22, was arrested several hours later and charged with aggravated assault on a police officer. Lamar County Sheriff Danny Rigel told the television station later Saturday that Johnson will be charged with two counts of attempted capital murder of a police officer.

Rigel said one of those counts relates to Johnson shooting at Pazos, while the second count relates to Johnson hitting the vehicle of a different deputy.

Johnson is jailed in Lamar County awaiting an initial appearance before a judge who will decide whether to set bail. It’s unclear if Johnson has a lawyer.

“The suspect was taken into custody and he was brought to a local hospital for injuries that he received,” Rigel earlier said. “They are non-life threatening or anything like that.”

The Mississippi Bureau of Investigation will report the results of its investigation to the attorney general’s office.