Last Wednesday at 3:30 p.m., a shooting suspect crashed his vehicle into a tractor-trailer at the intersection of U.S. Highway 80 and Walnut Avenue. He was already being pursued by law enforcement officers, so police help was at the scene at the time of the wreck.

However, school had just let out, and traffic was quickly filling all three eastbound lanes of Highway 80 behind the wreck.

Demopolis Police Department officers quickly resolved the problem of traffic congestion by rerouting the eastbound traffic into two westbound lanes of the highway, leaving the third westbound lane available for westbound traffic. The diversion lasted for about two blocks, as eastbound traffic was able to get back into the proper lanes just past the accident.

With so many things going on — a murder suspect in a wrecked vehicle, the safety and security of the other vehicles and getting medial attention to the suspect — police officers quickly figured out a way to ease the congestion of the traffic, helping them to focus on the job at hand.

We want to praise not only the Demopolis Police Department but also the Alabama State Troopers, Demopolis Fire and Rescue Department and dispatchers for their parts in this emergency. Your fast action and focused thinking helped to quickly resolve what could have been a terrible situation.