A scenario feared by most officers and their families played out Wednesday when a traffic stop suspect reached out of his car and opened fire on an officer, hitting him once in the right arm.

Officer J. Andrew Benson was conducting a traffic stop on Edison Avenue about 5:30 p.m. because a driver wasn't wearing a seat belt, but the driver continued a few blocks and turned onto Cherokee Street before stopping, said Undersheriff Dwain Senterfitt.


Benson noticed the suspect fidgeting inside the car as he was getting out of his patrol car and then the man fired several rounds out of the driver's window, Senterfitt said.

"Our officers are very well-trained and very well-equipped. If they follow the training and have the best chance they can have, bad things can still happen as we can see right here," Senterfitt said.

"A few inches the other way and this scenario is completely different," he said. "Instead of in the upper arm, it could have been in his head by just six or eight inches. It's a very dangerous job that we expect these men and women to get out here and do every single day and they do it, and they do it very well."

Officers located Donald Lee Goins, 33, in the Spirngfield area Wednesday night near Laura Street and arrested him on charges of attempted murder of a police officer and possession of a firearm by a felon, Senterfitt said.

Goins had an active arrest warrant for domestic battery, Senterfitt said.

Benson was hit in the arm and took cover in the patrol car where he returned fire, Senterfitt said.

The suspect drove away and Benson got back out of the patrol car to continue firing but did not hit the suspect.

Benson stayed at the scene until backup arrived and then he was taken to a hospital in non-life-threatening condition, Senterfitt said.

Senterfitt said Sheriff John Rutherford was at the hospital with Benson and they were lucky he was just wounded because he has two children, a 2 year old and a 3 month old.

Benson has been on the force five years this month and this was the first time he was involved in a shooting.

The Sheriff's Office used its helicopter in the search and several blocks in the Edison area were closed during the investigation.

Senterfitt said the weapon has not been recovered and they are looking for whoever drove Goins from the shooting scene to the Springfield area.

One of the last times someone shot a Jacksonville officer was July 31, 2013. Police were arresting a man suspected in several burglaries when he reached for his gun and shot Officer J.C. Prentice in the arm in a struggle. The suspect was arrested, along with his wife and daughter accomplices.

Joe Daraskevich: (904) 359-4308