KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — A man listed in a database as an Aryan Nations gang member shot an officer and is on the run, police in Tennessee said.
Knoxville Police Chief David Rausch told news outlets the man opened fire on Officer David Williams with a shotgun Thursday night as Williams attempted to stop him for speeding. Rausch identified the suspect as 31-year-old Ronnie Lucas Wilson.
Wilson fired at the officer while in his car, and then got out and continued firing, Rausch said. Williams suffered a wound to his shoulder.
Rausch said the officer is not believed to have fired his weapon.
Authorities recovered what is believed to be Wilson’s vehicle early Friday. Wilson is being sought on an attempted murder warrant. He was added to the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation’s top 10 most wanted fugitives list shortly before 10 a.m. Friday.
It’s unclear if he was the only person in the car during the attempted traffic stop.
Knoxville Police tweeted shortly before 8 a.m. Friday that Williams has been released from the hospital.
Law enforcement agencies across the state are “very familiar” with Wilson, Rausch said. He was convicted of aggravated burglary in 2011 and sentenced to three years in a state prison.
The Aryan Nations is the largest white supremacist prison gang in Tennessee, according to the Anti-Defamation League.
This story has been edited to correct first reference to suspect’s last name to Wilson, not Williams.