ATHENS, Ga. — Authorities in this north Georgia college town were searching early today for a suspect in a shooting that left one Athens police officer dead and another wounded.

It began just before 1 p.m. Tuesday when senior police officer Tony Howard stopped a Chevrolet Suburban. The passenger got out of the SUV and shot and wounded Howard, police said.

The driver of the Suburban was arrested, but the passenger ran from the vehicle and encountered another senior officer, Elmer “Buddy” Christian, according to authorities. He shot and killed Christian in his patrol car, police said in a statement.

The suspect has been identified as 33-year-old Jamie Hood.

The slain officer leaves a wife, a son and a daughter.

Howard underwent surgery at a hospital, and is expected to recover.

After the shooting, police fanned out along a major highway and conducted a house-by-house search for Hood, who was still at large early today.

The shootings came on the same day police chiefs from around the country said they supported longer prison terms for gun-carrying felons as a way to combat a recent rise in line-of-duty deaths.

A total of 162 officers died in the line of duty last year, up from 117 in 2009. Before the Georgia shootings, so far this year, 49 lost their lives, a 20 percent rise from the same time last year.