WOODVILLE — A Natchez man who was recently released from prison on a burglary charge was shot by a Woodville Police officer in a convenience store early Tuesday morning, the Woodville police chief said.

“The subject came in here, entered the store with two guns and threatened to kill the clerk and assaulted her a couple times,” said Jessie Stewart, Woodville Police Chief.

Stewart said when a police officer arrived on the scene the suspect, Gerry Byrd, 28, came at him.

“He came at the officer and the officer shot him,” Stewart said.

The injury was life-threatening, Stewart said, and Byrd was flown by helicopter to Our Lady of the Lake Regional Medical Center in Baton Rouge.

Stewart said Byrd also is a suspect in a shooting that occurred earlier Tuesday morning in Baton Rouge, in which he is believed to have shot a woman he was traveling with on I-110 and thrown her out of the vehicle before fleeing at approximately 2 a.m.

The woman was later found walking along the interstate with a gunshot wound, WAFB Baton Rouge reports.

Stewart said he believes the female victim in Baton Rouge is also from Natchez.

Stewart said Byrd arrived at the Woodville convenience store between 2:30 and 2:45 a.m. Tuesday.

“When he drove into the parking lot,” Stewart said, “the car would have gone through the front doors but two posts stopped the car. He was under the influence of some sort of drugs.”

A Woodville police officer arrived at the store shortly after.

Stewart said the convenience store clerk was not seriously injured in the incident but was shaken up.

The Mississippi Bureau of Investigation and members of the Mississippi crime lab are conducting an investigation into the officer-involved shooting, Stewart said, adding the officer, whose name was not released, has been placed on administrative leave as a matter of routine while the shooting is under investigation.

“I would like to thank (Wilkinson County) Sheriff (Reginald L.) Jackson and his staff and members of MBI and the members of the crime lab for all their assistance,” Stewart said.

Byrd was only out of the Mississippi Department of Corrections for a couple of months, Stewart said.

The Natchez Democrat reported Feb. 11, 2013, that Byrd had pleaded guilty to burglary of a dwelling and was sentenced to 25 years in the MDOC.

Under state law, non-violent criminals are often released after serving only a percentage of their time behind bars due to prison overcrowding.