Man charged with three counts of attempted murder after shooting at officers

A Montevallo man was arrested Thursday at 12:23 a.m. after firing a weapon at officers conducting a traffic stop.

Two officers and a female driver were pulled over on Montgomery Highway south when at least five shots were fired from a black Nissan crossing the exterior. No one was injured in the incident.

Other officers spotted the fleeing car and pulled it over near the intersection of Lorna Road and Rocky Ridge Ranch Road. The driver was arrested and taken to Hoover City Jail. Police recovered a 9 mm handgun from the suspect’s car.

Warrants on three counts of attempted murder were taken out for Martin Harlow Wood, 41. Capt. Gregg Rector said Wood did not have a “significant criminal past” and there is a potential for further charges.

“We know that he had been drinking throughout the night, so it may have been alcohol fueled, but that certainly doesn’t excuse his actions,” Rector said. “Most people that go out and drink don’t go out and shoot at other human beings.”

The act was believed to be random on Wood’s part, Rector said, and Wood made comments that “he was upset with his life” to officers.

Wood will be transferred to Jefferson County Jail later today.