Forsyth police react after officer injured in Tuesday shooting

Lifetime Forsyth resident and veteran police chief Patrick Gray couldn't point to a previous instance in which an FPD officer was struck by a bullet in the line of duty.

But Gray, 54, found himself at a Springfield hospital on Tuesday night after learning one of his five sworn officers had reportedly taken two gunshots to the back during a roadside stop near the intersection of highways 160 and 76, north of Kissee Mills.

The officer, whom Gray and other responding police agencies are not naming at the man's request, was apparently saved by his bulletproof vest. He was discharged from the hospital early Wednesday morning with severe bruising.

“There's bad people everywhere,” said Gray, noting that his mostly peaceful Taney County community isn't immune to trouble. “Mayberry is a myth.”

David Viner, 37, faces charges of first-degree assault of a special victim — a charge often interpreted as attempted murder of a police officer — and armed criminal action for Tuesday's shooting.

Viner was tracked down by responding police agencies as he was attempting to hide in a nearby forest following the alleged shooting. Viner was not shot, according to FPD, but reportedly sustained relatively minor injuries while attempting to escape law enforcement and was checked into a hospital.

According to a police report, Viner was involved in a road-rage incident about 10 p.m. at the intersection of 160 and 76 that allegedly involved a gun, eliciting a response from Forsyth police. When an officer approached Viner, who was reportedly holding a walking stick near the road as he walked away from the intersection, Viner immediately opened fire on the officer, according to police.

“It happened fast, less than a minute,” Gray said. “When (the officer) began to take cover from the first shots, he turned, and that's how he was hit in the back.”

Police said that Viner was later found about 315 meters into the woods