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MARIETTA, Ga. (AP) — The Latest on a highway shooting that left a Georgia State Patrol trooper wounded and the suspect dead. (all times local):
3:15 p.m.
Records show the suspect killed in a highway shootout with Georgia State Patrol troopers was jailed several years ago on misdemeanor traffic charges.
Booking records from the Cobb County Sheriff's Office in metro Atlanta show that Israel Vladimir Rodriguez was arrested and jailed on May 30, 2008, on charges of reckless driving, following another vehicle too closely and driving on a suspended or revoked license.
The records do not provide details surrounding Rodriguez's arrest, nor do they indicate how the courts ultimately dealt with the charges.
Authorities say 26-year-old Rodriguez died Wednesday after exchanging gunfire with troopers following a 10-mile chase on Interstate 75 north of Atlanta. Trooper Jacob Fields was wounded in the shootout and is recovering at a hospital.
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1:30 p.m.
State troopers scream "Shots fired! Shots fired!" in frantic radio calls at the end of a high-speed pursuit on Interstate 75. Seconds later, a dire message comes from one of the troopers: "Trooper down!"
Authorities say Trooper Jacob Fields was shot when he exchanged gunfire with a man who had been driving a picking truck. Fields was wounded and is in the hospital. The driver, 26-year-old Israel Vladimir Rodriguez, was also wounded and died at a hospital.
The Associated Press obtained the police radio communications on Thursday under Georgia's open records law.
Capt. Mark Perry says Fields, who was shot twice, is doing well after surgery.
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9:15 a.m.
A Georgia State Patrol spokesman says a trooper wounded in a gun battle on Interstate 75 has been moved to a regular medical floor of a hospital.
Capt. Mark Perry said 26-year-old Trooper Jacob Fields of Jasper, Georgia, was doing well enough after surgery late Wednesday that the medical staff was able to move him to a regular floor rather than intensive care at WellStar Kennestone Hospital in Marietta.
Perry said the wounded lawman's fellow troopers volunteered overnight to stay with him and the family at the hospital, and help out in any way they could.
Authorities say Fields began pursuing a speeding pickup Wednesday afternoon until it crashed. They say the driver got out and fired at troopers, who returned fire. Authorities said suspect 26-year-old Israel Vladimir Rodriguez of Acworth was shot and later died.
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7:20 a.m.
Dozens of semi-trailers remained parked on the side of Interstate 75 — more than 12 hours after a car chase and gun battle involving a Georgia State trooper led to a massive traffic jam.
The sight of the big rigs on the south-bound shoulder lanes of I-75 shortly after 5 a.m. Thursday was reminiscent of the 2014 snow and ice storm that led to motorists leaving their vehicles for a time. Traffic was flowing freely around the semis early Thursday morning.
Many drivers pulled over and parked on the shoulder of the interstate as the southbound lanes were shut down for several hours Wednesday afternoon as police investigated the shooting.
Authorities said Trooper Jacob Fields was wounded by gunfire but is expected to survive. The suspect, 26-year-old Israel Vladimir Rodriguez of Acworth, died of his wounds.
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5:15 a.m.
A highway chase in suburban Atlanta ended with a Georgia state trooper being shot and the suspect fatally wounded in an exchange of gunfire.
Georgia State Patrol spokesman Capt. Mark Perry says Trooper Jacob Fields was patrolling Interstate 75 southbound Wednesday afternoon in Cobb County when he saw a Chevrolet Silverado speeding. Perry says that when Fields tried to pull it over, the driver fled.
Georgia Bureau of Investigation spokesman Scott Dutton says the driver was 26-year-old Israel Vladimir Rodriguez.
Perry says Fields chased the truck for about 10 miles with two other troopers joining in. The Silverado hit a civilian vehicle and came to a stop.
Perry says Rodriguez got out and began shooting at the troopers, who returned fire. Fields was shot in the leg and abdomen just below his vest, and Rodriguez was hit multiple times in the abdomen.
Fields is expected to recover. Rodriguez died at a hospital.
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