HIAWATHA, Iowa (KCRG) – UPDATED Jan. 2nd – A carjacking suspect is in custody and hospitalized with critical injuries after exchanging gunfire with law enforcement Wednesday morning following a high-speed chase on I-380. KCRG reports that at approximately 8:30 a.m., officers were dispatched to a robbery in progress at the Marine Recruitment Office on Brandilynn Boulevard, where they learned a vehicle was stolen.

A Linn County Deputy located the suspect’s vehicle at 9:30 a.m. southbound on I-380 near Center Point. The adult male driver – later identified as 32-year-old Samuel Reese III, of Center Point, Alabama – took off southbound at high speed and officers chased him from Cedar Falls on I-380. Reese exited onto County Home Road and lost control, hitting a road sign. He then allegedly opened fire at officers out the driver’s side window. The chase continued southbound on I-380 until the vehicle came to a stop in the median ditch in Hiawatha near the Tower Terrace exit.

Linn County Sheriff Brian Gardner told KCRG Reese fired several rounds at officers. As officers returned fire, Reese was shot by an officer and was taken into custody. He was taken to a local hospital and later transferred to University of Iowa Health Care for critical injuries. The sheriff said Reese used a rifle to shoot at officers and may have had more guns. No officers were reported injured and the officers directly involved have been placed on critical incident leave, which is standard procedure in this type of incident, which remains under investigation by multiple law enforcement agencies.