Story updated at 4:30 p.m. Wednesday, July 22:

LAKELAND — A chase resulted in both a deputy and a suspect being hit by gunfire Wednesday in Lanier County, the county sheriff said.

A report of a home invasion around noon led deputies to fall in behind a car driven by a white male connected with homicides in Florida, Lanier County Sheriff Nick Norton said.

A man suffered a head injury during the home invasion and was admitted to South Georgia Medical Center in Valdosta, the sheriff said.

A chase ensued; when the suspect crashed his car, he stole another one and kept fleeing, Norton said.

The pursuit ended on Ga. 122 in the northeast portion of Lanier County in the Unity Church area with the suspect opening fire on pursuing officers, the sheriff said.

“It was then that one of our deputies was hit,” Norton said.

Deputies returned fire and hit the suspect several times, he said.

The deputy, a woman who had been hired from the Adel Police Department, was on her first day on the job in Lanier County, the sheriff said.

“She was riding with a seasoned sergeant, learning her way around the county,” the sheriff said.

The wounded deputy has already been released from the hospital, he said Wednesday afternoon.

The suspect was taken to South Georgia Medical Center in Valdosta, and was supposed to be transferred to a hospital in Tallahassee, Fla., but the transfer was delayed by bad weather, the sheriff said. The suspect’s name was not immediately available.

The incident is being investigated by the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, and GBI agents were still on the scene as of 4 p.m., Norton said.

“This guy was headed north, and Lanier County just happened to be in his way,” he said.

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The Georgia Bureau of Investigation’s Douglas office has confirmed it has officers in Lanier County investigating a Wednesday afternoon shooting incident. It is an officer-involved shooting, according to a GBI tweet.

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