Lakeland police shoot suspect after officer takes bullet to arm

LAKELAND, Fla. — A Lakeland police officer is in the hospital after he was shot in the arm Tuesday morning.

Police said Officer Doug Mills, 36, and Sgt. Jeff Gary were responding to North Florence Avenue to reports of a suspect wanted on charges of resisting arrest without violence when the man opened fire, hitting Mills.

"Originally, they saw him kind of coming from (the) park," said Sgt. Gary Gross. "He was walking. He refused to stop and they confronted him."

The officers returned fire, hitting the man multiple times, authorities said. He was taken to a local hospital in serious condition.

"(Mills) was in the area and responded to help out, that's all," said Gross. "An extra show of force."

Police said the man had four guns on him at the time of the shooting.

Lakeland police officials are crediting the officers' bulletproof vest for saving both of their lives.

Mills has since been released from the hospital.

Investigators still haven't released the name of the suspect.

WFTV