Police arrest three after shots are fired near Seneca

Three men are in custody following a police chase and a search in a wooded area off Highway 43 near Seneca last night.

It all began when Seneca police tried to stop a pickup truck shortly after 8:30 p.m  Gunfire struck the police cruiser involved in the chase. No one was injured.

Seneca Police Chief James Altic says authorities initiated a search after the truck hit a tree in a wooded area.

"We did arrest a shooter about a half mile north of where they abandoned the vehicle," Chief Altic states.

"The other guy that was a passenger was located coming out of the brush walking down the road around nine o'clock this morning," Altic adds.

A third man was arrested on Sunday.

Altic says the driver of the pickup truck is in a Joplin hospital after being injured in the collision with the tree. The other two are in the Newton County jail.