Police failed to catch an unknown man who led them on an hours-long manhunt Wednesday in Greenwood.
One suspect fled on foot during a routine traffic stop about 9 a.m. near Old City Park downtown, said Matt Fillenwarth, assistant chief of the Greenwood Police Department.
Police and sheriff’s deputies with K9s searched the areas along Pleasant Creek, from downtown to west of U.S. 31, all morning.
The search moved about noon to the area of U.S. 31 and Main Street, where witnesses reported seeing the suspect. Police looked along Pleasant Creek behind the Dairy Queen on W. Main Street, in and around the Greenwood Cemetery, and in a residential neighborhood west of the creek.
Also around that time, the sheriff’s office deployed three drones to help, Fillenwarth said.
About a dozen officers worked the scene for four hours. The search was eventually called off near Smith Valley Road, he said.
The Greenwood Public Library, V.O. Isom Central Elementary School, Our Lady of the Greenwood, Greenwood Community High School and Southwest Elementary School were all placed on lockdowns during the search, but were able to release students on time Wednesday afternoon.
Police have no leads on who the suspect is, why he ran or if he is dangerous, Fillenwarth said. The car he was driving was a rental out of Terre Haute. Police know who rented it, but they do not know if that is the same person who was actually in the car, he said.
Greenwood police will continue the investigation.
