Authorities: Police officers in Missouri, Georgia injured in separate ambush attacks

Police officers in Georgia and Missouri were wounded Friday — one critically — after officials said they were "ambushed" in two separate incidents just hours after five officers were killed and seven were wounded in Dallas during a protest,.

A suburban St. Louis police officer was "ambushed" during a traffic stop and shot at least once, wounding him critically, authorities said.

In Valdosta, Ga., a man who called 911 to report a car break-in ambushed a south Georgia police officer dispatched to the scene, sparking a shootout in which both the officer and suspect were wounded, authorities said. Both are expected to survive.

The suspect in custody in the Missouri attack is a man in his 30s and likely will be charged in the shooting, St. Louis County Police Chief Jon Belmar said at a news conference. Authorities did not provide the race or identity of the officer or the suspect.

Ballwin Police Chief Kevin Scott described the shooting, saying that the officer was walking back to his car after the initial conversation during the traffic stop when the motorist followed him and fired at least three shots. The shooting was captured on video, he said.

"Make no mistake: We believe during this investigation that Ballwin officer was ambushed, period," Belmar said. "It's an unfortunate state of events we're dealing with right now."

Scott said the shooting is being investigated and that the officer had no opportunity to pull his service revolver, saying he "was completely helpless at this point."

"I don't know about the motive at this point at all, "Scott added.

Belmar told KMOV-TV earlier that a gun was recovered at the scene, though it wasn't clear to whom it belonged.

Scott says the officer, who has not been identified, has been one for nine years, two of which with the Ballwin department.

The suspect was on probation for a weapons violation in St. Louis, Belmar said, had been on probation for a stolen vehicle in Oklahoma and was picked up for a firearm violation in California. He was paroled in 2015.

Valdosta Officer Randall Hancock was shot multiple times as he responded to a 911 call about a car break-in outside the Three Oaks Apartments just after 8 a.m. Friday, Valdosta Police Chief Brian Childress said at a news conference.

"The officer called out on the radio screaming for assistance," Childress said, and officers from multiple law enforcement agencies swarmed the apartment complex.

The GBI later identified the suspected gunman as 22-year-old Stephen Paul Beck and said it was Beck who also placed the 911 call. Both Childress and Dutton identified the suspect as an Asian male. Charges against Beck were still pending Friday as he was being treated at a Florida hospital, Dutton said.

"We're putting pieces together to understand what happened and why, developing witnesses," said Scott Dutton, spokesman for the GBI, which is handling the case at the request of local police. "There's nothing to indicate there's a connection to that."

The officer is white, according to Valdosta city spokeswoman Sementha Mathews.

Dutton said one gunshot hit the officer in the abdomen, just below his protective vest. Other shots hit Hancock's vest. The officer fired back and wounded the suspect.

Hancock underwent surgery at a local hospital and was stable Friday as he rested with his family by his side, Childress said. The suspect was also considered stable, he said.

"I'm relieved that my officer is fine," Childress said. "I am also equally relieved that the offender is going to make it."

The police chief said Hancock was wearing a body camera, and its video footage had been turned over to the GBI.

Childress declined to comment on any possible motive when asked about his officer being shot so soon after the Dallas attacks. The Dallas officers were shot during a protest over the recent killings of black men by police in Minnesota and Louisiana.

"You start to wonder," the police chief said. "But any motive of why this happened this morning, it would be speculation."