A manhunt continues in southwest Iowa for man who escaped Friday morning and is believed to be the suspect from a pursuit overnight.

38-year-old Rodney Eugene Long escaped custody in Clarinda Friday.

Long is described as a white male, 38 years old with brown hair and brown eyes. He is 5 feet 9 inches tall, weighs 144 pounds and has tattoos on his wrists.

Deputies started the pursuit after responding to call about a man walking along Highway 2 in Taylor County around 11:30 last night.  As the first deputy rolled up, the suspect shot and hit him twice, resulting in non-life threatening injuries.

The second deputy arrived on scene as the suspect was pulling away in the other deputies patrol vehicle.

“The second deputy helped out the first one, got him in his car and they started the pursuit.”  Mitch Mortvedt of the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigations said.  “It ended with the suspect rolling the stolen patrol vehicle several times in rural Taylor County on a gravel road.”

The pursuit lasted 40 minutes and included law enforcement from roughly 12 dozen different agencies, like the Nodaway County Sheriff’s Office from Missouri.

The suspect fled on foot and has yet to be located.  A manhunt is underway in the area.  Iowa authorities are not releasing the exact location, but did say it was near Highland Avenue and 265th Street in Taylor County.

“At this time we haven’t had any reports of stolen vehicles or any residence being burglarized so we are kind-of concentrating are efforts on that general area,” Mortvedt said.

Authorities are not trying to cause panic, according to Mortvedt, but do want citizens in the area to be on a heightened awareness.  He added that includes locking your doors, keeping keys out of vehicles and reporting anything suspicious .

The wounded deputy was flown to an Omaha hospital where he remains in stable condition.  His name has not been released.

The suspect was serving a five year sentence for Third Degree Burglary.   His sentence started in March and he was transferred the facility in Clarinda in April.  Authorities believe he escaped over the recreation yard fence between 4:00 and 10:00 am Friday morning from the minimal security facility.

The suspect is described as armed and dangerous.  If you see him, you are asked to call 911 immediately and Mortvedt urged citizen not to take matters into their own hands.