Knife recovered after shooting in Edna

Update June 3, 11:30 a.m.:  The suspect's condition is listed as critical but stable. 

By Jessica Coleman
Staff Writer

    What began as a run-of-the-mill shoplifting incident escalated until the words “shots fired! shots fired!” rang out over police radios and scanners across Jackson County on June 2. 
    A call came in to Jackson County dispatch from Conner’s Corner Store on E. Houston Highway in Edna, reporting that a shoplifter who had just left the premisis was headed West on the Highway 59 feeder road. The suspect, who was on foot, was described as a caucasian male wearing a camouflage hoodie and khaki pants.  
    “An eight year veteran of the Edna Police Department responded,” said Edna Police Chief Clinton Wooldridge in a press release,  “Before arriving at the store the officer saw a person walking along a sidewalk on Texas Hwy 111, coming from the direction of the store.  The officer recognized the man as matching the description given by the caller.”
    The officer, who was the only officer on scene, then exited his vehicle and attempted to make contact with the suspect, at which time the suspect began to advance toward the officer, reaching behind his back and ignoring commands to show his hands and stop advancing.
    According to the press release, “The suspect then went around the officer’s patrol car and advanced toward him again.  The officer fired an undetermined number of rounds from his duty weapon.  The man then fled on foot, falling some fifty yards away.”
     A knife was recovered from near the patrol car.
    The suspect, identified as a 27-year-old Edna man, was transported by EMS to a Victoria hospital where his condition is unknown. 
    “He is not deceased,” said Wooldridge, “That’s all we know at this time.”