Vest Saves Chalfont Police Officer's Life In Shooting - Philadelphia News, Weather and Sports from WTXF FOX 29

The search continues for the gunman who shot a Bucks County police officer before dawn this morning.  It happened in Chalfont, as officer Jon Cousin pulled alongside a parked car outside a swim club.

Cars aren't supposed to park overnight at the Lenape Valley Swim Club.  So when Office Jon Cousin spotted a vehicle there, he got suspicious.  Police Chief Frank Campbell of the Chalfont Police Department explained how it happened. "As he pulled in, he pulled up to the vehicle.  He believed the operator of the vehicle jumped out, started rushing toward him, he told him get back in the car."

That was a quarter past three in the morning Monday.  And then, the moment every police officer fears.  "A shot was fired from the other side of the vehicle, we don't know by who," Chief Campbell told Fox 29.

Rich Schlegel, a nearby resident, heard "three shots.  It wasn't automatic shots, it was just three separate shots."  One bullet hit Cousin, a three-year veteran of the department, in the chest.  But his Kevlar vest stopped the slug.  Officer Cousin managed to fire back two rounds.  But the police chief says investigators aren't certain whether the officer's bullets hit anyone.  They found no blood on the ground.  But it was raining heavily at the time, and the water might have washed away any trace of a wound.

Police are looking for a maroon-colored Oldsmobile with scuffs on the rear bumper, and possibly with a university or college sticker across the rear windshield.  Officer Cousin told investigators the car did not have license plates on it.  Three people may have been inside.  

As for nearby residents, they'll be locking their doors.  "I was shocked, I couldn't believe it," longtime Chalfont resident Ginny Moffett said.  "A shooting in Chalfont?  And a cop, no less."  Rich Schlegel agreed.  "Something you see in the city all the time, but not out here.  You don't have much crime out here in Chalfont."

Officer Cousin avoided talking to reporters Monday afternoon when he picked up his mini-van from the police station parking lot.  But this much is certain:  he and his family must feel incredibly grateful, especially because his wife had triplets recently.