BC-NC–Trooper Shot, 4th Ld-Writethru,193

NC trooper recovering from gunshot wound

DURHAM, N.C. (AP) A North Carolina Highway Patrol trooper was recovering Tuesday after being shot during a traffic stop in Durham, and police have arrested a man who was wanted in Vermont.

Mikel Edward Brady, 23, of Durham was arrested Tuesday for assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill in the shooting of 42-year-old Trooper Michael Potts, Attorney General Roy Cooper said. Cooper’s office said Brady had been wanted on a felony warrants from Vermont

Potts was shot four times with bullets piercing each hand, his right shoulder and the right side of his face, said Public Safety Secretary Kieran Shanahan. The 11-year patrol veteran had two surgeries and was in fair condition Tuesday, but Shanahan called Potts’ survival a miracle.

Potts was shot after stopping a car because the driver was not wearing a seatbelt, Shanahan said.

Brady was charged in Vermont last fall with shooting deer out of season. He had been sentenced to 28 months in federal prison in December 2010, after stealing dynamite from a Vermont quarry. Brady also allegedly jumped bail while awaiting trial on state home invasion charges before being arrested in Mexico by U.S. marshals in 2009.