A man who shot an Indiana sheriff’s deputy early Friday morning is believed to still be in the southern Indiana/greater Louisville area where the incident took place, while the trooper is recovering from surgery.

Indiana State Police said the incident took place at about 12:30 a.m. when Orange County Deputy Zach Andry stopped to investigate a car pulled over on the side of Highway 150 near West Baden, WDRB reported.

Andry suspected some sort of criminal activity in the course of the traffic stop and asked the driver, 33-year-old Austin Schepers, to step out of the car. Instead, Schepers shot Andry four times and sped off, leaving the deputy bleeding in the roadway.

Andry is listed in critical but stable condition after surgery later Friday morning, Indiana State Police Master Trooper Philip Hensley said, adding that Andry’s surgeon was “very pleased with the outcome.”

“This guy’s a fighter,” Hensley said. “He’s a young officer. He has a family. He’s a member of his community and he is fighting with everything he’s got to bounce back from his injuries.”

Meanwhile, police launched a search for Schepers and got information that he was in a home near downtown New Albany. Police set up a perimeter at the location, but after several hours, a SWAT team made entry but found no one, WAVE reported.

His car was found abandoned on the side of a road in Orangeville late Friday morning. A woman who was believed to have been in the car with Schepers was found in the woods nearby and taken in for questioning.

“We have been working tirelessly around the clock to get to the bottom of this to find out where he’s at,” Hensley said, according to WDRB. “He needs to be brought to justice, unquestionably, you can guarentee that we’re bringing him in. We’re not stopping until he is brought to justice.”

Hensley said officers have gotten leads in Floyd, Clark, and Jefferson counties.

Schepers is described as 5 feet 7 inches tall and 150 pounds with brown hair and hazel eyes. He has a cross tattoo under his left eye and several other tattoos around his neck and on his arms. He is considered armed and dangerous.

Anyone with information should call 911 or the Indiana State Police Bloomington Post at 812-332-4411.

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[Featured image: Austin Schepers and Zach Andry/Indiana State Police]