The Blue Alert issued for a man authorities say shot a police officer during a traffic stop in Wise County Sunday night has been discontinued, but the statewide manhunt for the suspected gunman is ongoing.
Law enforcement officers statewide have been looking for 43-year-old Royce Edward Wood since Sunday after a Rhome police officer was shot during a traffic stop.
Wednesday afternoon, after the Blue Alert was discontinued, Wise County Sheriff Lane Akin confirmed that Wood is not in custody. Officials have not said why the alert was canceled with the suspect still on the run.
On Sunday night, Wise County sheriff's deputies and Rhome police pulled over two people on a motorcycle, at least one of whom matched the suspect description in a home invasion in the area Saturday night, near the intersection Farm-to-Market roads 407 and 2264, according to Akin.
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Akin said the driver of the motorcycle got off the bike and fired "a couple of shots" at officers and a Rhome police officer was struck in the leg. The injured officer was taken to John Peter Smith Hospital in Fort Worth in stable condition.
Wood is a man well-known to police, Akin said.
“Law enforcement across North Texas knows of this guy,” Akin said. “We’re anxious to get him behind bars and we’ll do everything we can do to do this as quickly as possible.”
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Wood is described as 6 feet 2 inches tall and weighing about 200 pounds. He is bald and has a full beard, green eyes, and was last seen on foot wearing a baseball cap with a camouflage bandana around it. He was also wearing black sunglasses, a vest, and a green shirt
What is a Blue Alert? They are alerts issued by the Texas Department of Public Safety designed to speed in the apprehension of violent criminals who kill or seriously wound local, state, or federal law enforcement officers. Read more on Texas Blue Alerts here.
NBC 5's Maria Guerrero contributed to this report.
