A Selma Police Department (SPD) officer is in stable condition, according to SPD Chief Spencer Collier and Dallas County District Attorney Michael Jackson.

According to Collier, the officer was shot at in his squad car by multiple assailants around 3:50 a.m. while traveling up Furniss Avenue toward Lauderdale Street.

Collier said that the officer performed correctly, and accelerated out of the area where he was being attacked, which was between Goodwill and the Custom Auto Sales store.

The altercation ended with the squad car overturned.

“He was transported by a fellow officer to the hospital,” said Collier. “We believe there are multiple suspects. We recovered multiple shell casings at the scene.

“This today demonstrates our worst fears,” said Collier. “I only have one way to respond to this and that is with overwhelming force. I have asked for assistance from agencies from all over the states and federal agencies. We are going to overwhelm the city.”

Jackson said that multiple state and federal enforcement agencies are assisting SPD with finding the suspects they believe are involved with this ambush.

This is the second time this month a law enforcement officer has been ambushed in Selma.

At the beginning of the month, two officers were shot at in the George Washington Carver Homes (GWC) where a suspect shot an alleged six to eight shots at a squad car. Neither officer was injured during that incident.

“The nonsense absolutely has to stop,” said Collier. “I no way mean this as a threat. We are trained well, but our message is clear. If our officers reasonably feel their life is in danger, we are going to start carrying more people out of these things horizontally. We cannot just be targets to them to kill and to gain street credibility.

“This was a very well established ambush,” said Collier. “I don’t say that leisurely, but it was thought out. They even had the proper angles to keep from shooting each other. We are seeing more and more military type tactics in these shootings.”

Collier said that he has asked SBI to take over the scene and that all further questions would be referred to that agency. The search for the suspects is still ongoing.