Details slowly emerging in shooting of two WSPD officers

Sgt. Mickey Hutchens of the Winston-Salem Police Department remains in extremely critical condition, while Officer Daniel Clark’s condition had significantly improved Thursday afternoon after both officers were shot while pursuing a suspect behind the Bojangles restaurant on Peters Creek Parkway on Wednesday morning, said Capt. David Clayton, head of the department’s criminal investigations division.

Physical evidence and eyewitness statements have led police investigators to believe that Monte Denard Evans, the suspect in yesterday’s shootout, “was armed and did fire multiple times,” Clayton said. Evans was killed in the gun battle.

On Thursday, the physical condtions of Sgt. Hutchens, a 27-year veteran of the police force, and Offier Clark, a 5-year veteran of the force, remained the focus.

“Sgt. Mickey Hutchens is in extremely critical condition,” Clayton said. “He was shot in the face and that bullet traveled and went through his brain. He’s got severe head injuries."

Officer Clark’s condition had been upgraded from serious to good on Thursday, Clayton said.

“He was sitting up in the bed when I was talking to him,” Clayton added. “He sustained two gunshot wounds — one was to his torso, which the bulletproof vest caught and the other was to his upper body, above the bulletproof vest, is where he got shot. But hopefully, he will make a full recovery.”

As in all cases involving the shooting of a police officer, the State Bureau of Investigation will conduct the investigation of what transpired after Hutchens and Clark confronted Evans in the Bojangles parking lot on Wednesday morning.

Hutchens and Clark responded to a 911 call to the Bojangles on Peters Creek Parkway around 10:30 a.m. Wednesday and contacted the reporting person. After talking with the 911 caller, they confronted Evans in the parking lot. Evans ran from them and a foot chase ensued around a couple of businesses. Evans was chased into a wooded area and multiple gunshots were fired. Evans was fatally wounded while Hutchens and Clark sustained gunshot wounds.

During a Thursday afternoon press conference, the Rev. Ray Davis of Forbush Baptist Church gave a statement on behalf of the families of the wounded officers. Davis thanked the community for its overwhelming support and prayers.

“We ask you to pray for Mickey and Officer Daniel Clark, his wife and their unborn baby,” Davis said.