A Columbus police officer was injured early Friday morning, February 10, 2023, when several windows of his police patrol car were shot out by someone in one or more passing cars.

The unidentified officer was injured when the glass in the front and rear of the patrol car shattered, and he was struck in the eye with pieces of the windshield.

The incident occurred on Railroad Street near the intersection of 14th Avenue North.

Chief Joseph Daughtry responded to the scene to ensure the safety of his officers. The officer first reported the incident near 12:59 a.m. Friday.

“Our officers were struck with flying glass,” Chief Daughtry said Friday. “The front windshield and the rear glass on the car were both broken. The shots came very close to our officer while he was on patrol.”

Daughtry said two vehicles were driving at high speed, and one was chasing the other as they approached the police car.

“We are still investigating, but we believe a tan pickup truck and a black passenger car were in a chase, and the shots were fired. We don’t know if they were shooting at one another or our officer, but it doesn’t matter. Their actions put innocent persons at risk,” the chief said.

City-operated video cameras are being used to identify and locate the vehicles.

“We spent overnight analyzing video from our cameras in the area,” Chief Daughtry added.