Wounded police officer still critical

Monday, Dec. 16, 2002 | 9:44 a.m.

A rookie policeman who was shot six times on Thursday night was still in critical condition this morning, but improving.

Metro Police Officer Enrique Hernandez, 27, was shot in the hand, shoulder and knee after a routine traffic stop and was in University Medical Center's trauma intensive care unit this morning, a hospital spokesman said.

A vigil is scheduled for Hernandez at 6 p.m. today in the east parking lot of UMC.

Hernandez tried to stop a sport utility vehicle about 10:15 p.m. Thursday near the intersection of 27th Street and Stewart Avenue.

The driver failed to stop, speeding up and crashing his vehicle near 28th Street and Marlin Avenue, police said.

The suspect jumped from his vehicle and ran into a nearby apartment. The officer chased him, police said.

Inside the apartment, police said, the suspect turned on the officer and fired several shots at him with a handgun. The officer was shot, but managed to fire back at the suspect.

About an hour after the incident began, three SWAT officers surrounded the suspect in an apartment, and when he refused to surrender, was shot, police said. The suspect, whose name has not been released, was pronounced dead at the scene.

The name of the officer was not made public for 48 hours, per Metro Police policy.