KANSAS CITY -
UPDATE 8:00 PM MONDAY: St. Louis Police say the Cadillac they were searching for has been found and that the have identified a person of interest.
Police spokesman Mitch McCoy did not give the location of where they recovered the Cadillac.
ST. LOUIS (KMOX)--A St. Louis City police officer is in critical condition after being struck by a vehicle on I-70 around Shreve Monday morning.
St. Louis City Police Chief Robert Tracy says officers in North City spotted a vehicle reported stolen out of the Metro East. The officers then and observed the suspects leave and enter into another metro east stolen vehicle.
After officers attempted a traffic stop, the vehicle fled, nearly striking an officer. Officers later successfully spike stripped the car, and the vehicle pursuit ended when it crashed upon entering I-70. Tracy says two of the suspects began to flee on foot, with one hopping the median. That's when, according to Tracy, an officer and the suspect he was arresting at gunpoint, were struck by an uninvolved vehicle.
"As the SLMPD officer was climbing over the median to take the suspect into custody, the officer and suspect were stuck by a separate vehicle while in the express lanes."
Tracy says the officer fired off "safety shots," to alert nearby law enforcement of his location. Tracy says they were able to get to him and apply a life saving tourniquet.
"Had they not done that, we would not be talking about a successful surgery."
The other vehicle fled the scene and neither it nor its driver have been located. It is described as a black Cadillac C-T-S Sedan with damage to the rear. Tracy would not elaborate on the extent of the officer's injuries.
"Very very serious."
Tracy said more information about the injuries will come out at a later time.
Earlier in the day, Tracy visited the officer at the hospital before he went into surgery. "His family is here," said SLMPD Chief Robert Tracy at the time, "his father, brother, and other family members are here. They have had an opportunity to speak to him. It's a very very serious injury to his leg."
Chief Tracy says it started as an investigation into a carjacking that led to a police chase. The officer sustained a leg injury and other officers loaded him into a police Tahoe to rush him to the hospital.
The officer has not been named, but he is described as 31-years-old and a six year veteran of the police force.
The suspect who was also struck was in surgery during the press conference, with his condition described as critical and unstable. The other suspects in the stolen vehicle with him are a 18-year-old male and a 20-year-old male.