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ST. LOUIS — A St. Louis police officer and an arrestee on Monday were both severely injured when they were hit by a car on Interstate 70 near Shreve Avenue.

The 31-year-old officer was holding the arrestee at gunpoint at about 8:45 a.m. while he jumped over a concrete median to arrest the carjacking suspect in the express lanes of the highway when an uninvolved car hit both men, Chief Robert Tracy said.

Unable to move after he was struck, Tracy said the officer fired safety shots so that other cops could find him.

Those shots saved the officer’s life, the chief said on Monday afternoon during a news conference.

“The officers were in different areas looking for perpetrators,� the chief said. “Our officers were able to get to him, put a tourniquet on him and save his life. Had they not done that, we would not be talking about a successful surgery.�

Tracy said the officer’s leg was severely injured but would not comment further Monday afternoon. The officer survived surgery and “has long road to recovery,� said St. Louis Mayor Tishaura O. Jones during a news conference.

The suspect, who was also seriously injured, remained in surgery at about 4 p.m. Monday. He suffered multiple injuries, said St. Louis police spokesman Mitch McCoy.

Police say the incident began when the Metro East Auto Theft Task Force was investigating Monday morning in North City after a Toyota Rav4 was carjacked from East St Louis.

The SUV was spotted in the 4800 block of Cote Brilliante Avenue, the chief said. Officers saw the suspects get out of that car and enter an Acura that had been reported stolen from Belleville.

Officers chased the Acura and eventually it drove onto eastbound I-70 from northbound Kingshighway, Tracy said. But the Acura had hit police spike strips before getting on the highway, and it lost control and struck an uninvolved car just before Shreve Avenue, Tracy said.

The driver, an 18-year-old man, ran away but was arrested shortly after. The front passenger, a 20-year-old man, stayed in the car and was also arrested.

The person in the back of the Acura also ran and jumped over the center median into the eastbound express lanes of I-70. The man was held at gunpoint by an officer as the officer climbed over the median, Tracy said.

That’s when the two were hit by a car and the officer fired off safety shots.

Police on Monday afternoon said they had not identified the man who was struck by the car.

The car that hit the two men left the scene. Police said they believe it was a Cadillac CTS Sedan, model year 2008 to 2013, with side rear damage and possible damage to rear taillight.

Police said surveillance cameras spotted the car near the split at Interstate 55 and Interstate 44 around 8:50 a.m.

Anyone with information is asked to call police.

The chief noted late Monday afternoon that the injured officer has six years of service with the department and has been hurt in the line of duty before but declined to give additional details about that incident.

“He has come back to this police department to make sure that he went out to service again when he didn’t have to,� Tracy said. “And here he is again, showing that bravery.�

Both he and Jones said they had visited with the officer’s family.

“The officer who was injured today is an exemplary officer who has gone to great lengths to protect and serve our residents,� Jones said during the news conference. “Today, our entire city feels the pain that he and his family are suffering as they begin the long road to recovery.�

It’s the second time in six months that a St. Louis police officer has been struck on the busy interstate in north St. Louis.

David Lee, an 18-year veteran of the department, was hit near Grand Avenue on Sept. 22 and later died in surgery.

Lee was at a one-car crash when he was behind his patrol car retrieving traffic cones. The driver of another car, traveling east, lost control, spun out and ran into him.