<p>Police were justified in firing their weapons in a shootout in which one officer was wounded and two siblings from Ohio were wounded after a high-speed chase, a Georgia Bureau of Investigation agent said.</p><p>"It's apparent that officers were justified on use of force," said Gary Rothwell, special agent in charge of the Perry GBI office.</p><p>Authorities gave the following account:</p><p>Four Ohioans were bound for Tampa, Fla., Monday when Houston County sheriff's Sgt. Chad Payne attempted to stop their pickup speeding on Interstate 75. A chase ensued into Perry, where the driver, Charles B. Wright, 19, of Marysville, Ohio, crashed into a utility pole.</p><p>Perry police Sgt. Chris Sutcliff was shot once when he went to the passenger side of the truck with his gun drawn, and Payne and Cpl. Eric Barnett returned fire, Sheriff Cullen Talton said.</p><p>Sutcliff needed two operations on his right forearm after being shot by a .45-caliber pistol and remained hospitalized Thursday in intensive care, Perry Police Chief George Potter said.</p><p>Wright and his sister, Jennifer Jones, 21, were also hospitalized with wounds but had been treated and taken to the Houston County Jail by Thursday, Talton said. Also jailed were Heather Elizabeth Michael, 18, and Zachary James Potter, 19, both of Lakeview, Ohio.</p><p>All were charged by the GBI with aggravated assault on a police officer.</p><p>The GBI also determined that the pickup was stolen from the Lakeview area, Rothwell said.</p><p>Rothwell said it remained unclear which of the four fired on police, but "the offenders opened fire on police first."</p>
