By PoliceOne Staff
FRESNO, Calif. — A pursuit erupted in gunfire after a Madera police officer attempted to make a traffic stop early Sunday morning.
The officer attempted to pull over a vehicle after the suspect failed to yield and ran through a stop sign, KNTV reported.
Dashcam footage released by the department shows the suspect driving through a neighborhood, then a passenger reaching out the window and firing at the cruiser. The shots shattered a window and narrowly missed an officer and a female civilian passenger, according to ABC7.
The station reported the officer had to pull over due to the damage. The suspect’s car and a weapon were later found abandoned.
"It is the stark reality of law enforcement," Lt. Gino Chiaramonte told the station. "He [the officer] kept it under control, still had cognitive process and at the same time still thought about his passenger and paid attention to what the suspect was doing."
Officials say the officer had only been with the department for two weeks, and both the officer and passenger were not injured.