Suspect in Tuesday's officer shooting and standoff identified

DOUBLE SPRINGS - Law enforcement and first responders from across a 50-mile area converged on a vehicle Tuesday night, Jan. 17, in a standoff/shootout situation after an armed motorist opened fire on officers while barricaded in his car.
Jeffery Lee Adair, 48, with an address listed of 301 Old Union Road, Haleyville, surrendered to authorities around 10 p.m., three hours after the initial standoff began, according to law enforcement agencies on the scene.
The  situation resulted in Highway 278 in the area of Blake Drive being covered with  law enforcement, from heavily armed SWAT teams to police departments and sheriff’s offices from across several counties, along with other first responders.
Adair allegedly came out of his vehicle to surrender, leaving the handgun he had allegedly earlier used to shoot at and injure a Double Springs Police Officer, inside the car.
Adair was shot in the left arm by a Double Springs police officer, who reportedly returned fire after the other Double Springs officer was allegedly shot in the left hand by Adair, according to Double Springs Police Chief Kim Miller.
Adair, who exited his car unarmed, was surrounded by multiple agencies, all with weapons drawn, Miller stated.
As Adair surrendered, he was approached by the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency tactical team along with tactical teams from Winfield and Cullman County, along with a tactical team medic, according to Miller.
Adair was placed on a stretcher and transported by first responders, including medics from Regional Paramedical Service Ambulance, to an RPS unit parked several hundred feet away from where Adair’s vehicle had crashed after he had allegedly struck a patrol unit at an attempted barricade after a lengthy pursuit by law enforcement earlier that night, authorities said.
The RPS unit transported Adair to UAB Hospital for further treatment and he was released around 6 a.m. Wednesday morning, Jan. 18, Miller stated.
After being released from UAB, he was transported to the Winston County Jail in Double Springs, where he was being processed with no bond having been set as of Wednesday afternoon, authorities said.
Jail officials told the Alabamian as of Wednesday afternoon, Jan. 18, the State Bureau of Investigation,which is now handling the investigation, had not completed their investigation to the point that charges had been filed.

The Alabamian will have much more on this story online as it becomes available and in our Jan. 25, edition.

*When someone is accused of a crime, it is merely an accusation until or unless the person is found guilty in a court of law.