By PHYLLIS ZORN

Staff writer

A passenger in an SUV headed from Emporia to work in McPherson was shot Friday morning as the car he was riding in passed a car apparently broken down on the side of K-150.

A 2015 Nissan Murano with four people carpooling to work passed a black Ford Explorer on the side of the road and heard “loud bangs.”

A 33-year-old Emporia man seated in the right rear passenger seat in the Murano was shot in the hip.

The shooting victim was taken to Newman Regional Health at Emporia.

Deputies and troopers found no one in the Explorer. After a search, they found a 38-year-old male suspect from Milford lying unconscious and face down in a creek. They also found a gun in the creek.

Officers gave the Milford man naloxone to reverse opioid overdose symptoms and took him to NRH.

Eric J. McClure was arrested Tuesday by Emporia police officers after he was released from the hospital.

He is being held in Lyon County jail on suspicion of aggravated battery, three counts of aggravated assault, being a felon in possession of a firearm, and circumvention of an ignition interlock device.