Georgia officer released from hospital after ambush shooting

VALDOSTA, Ga. (AP) — Police say a south Georgia police officer who was shot during an ambush has been released from the hospital.

Valdosta city spokeswoman Sementha Mathews says officer Randall Hancock was released Thursday. Police say 22-year-old recovering drug addict Stephen Paul Beck shot Hancock multiple times after making a 911 call about a car break-in outside the Three Oaks Apartments on July 8.

The Georgia shooting came hours after a sniper in Dallas killed five officers and wounded seven more, but the Georgia Bureau of Investigation said there's no evidence to support a connection with the shootings in Dallas.

Beck told investigators he wanted police to kill him.

Authorities say Hancock's protective vest took some of the bullets, but he was hit once just below it, in the abdomen.