Bessemer Officer Arrested In Connection With Gardendale Shooting

GARDENDALE, AL — Two men have been arrested in connection with an officer-involved shooting last week in Gardendale. One of those suspects is Bessemer police officer Stanley Raheem Thomas.

The event occurred July 17, one of three incidents involving police-involved shootings in the metro area. Just after 11 p.m., a police officer went to the First Baptist Church parking lot in Gardendale to investigate a report of a suspicious vehicle.

When the officer arrived, there were four people standing outside the vehicle, one of them armed with a gun. That man – identified as 20-year-old Tyress Dimitri Hill – jumped in a vehicle driven by Thomas and fled. As he did so, said State Bureau of Investigation Lt. Jon Riley, he tried to run over the Gardendale officer and the officer fired a shot.

A short distance away, on Mt. Olive Road at Mountain Crest Parkway, the suspect's vehicle crashed off the roadway. The suspect was found wounded, and taken to UAB Hospital's Trauma Center.

Gardendale police on Friday announced that Hill was charged with attempted murder and certain persons forbidden to possess a firearm. Once released from the hospital, he will be held in the Jefferson County Jail $130,000 bond.

Thomas, 26, is charged with obstructing governmental operations and resisting arrest, according to an Alabama Media Group report. Authorities have not specifically detailed the allegations against him. A person is charged with the Class A misdemeanor crime when, according to Alabama law, when he or she intentionally prevents a public servant from performing a governmental function.