As Fairfax County police officers searched a park in the Springfield area on Sunday for a suspected rabid coyote that bit three adults and two dogs the day before, the coyote bit one of the officers, Fairfax police said. The officer then shot the coyote, who was found dead a short distance away.

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       The officer’s wound was not life threatening, and he did not need to be hospitalized, said. Lt. James Curry, Fairfax police spokesman. But the coyote has not yet been tested for rabies, and the officer and Saturday’s victims may need to undergo a series of shots if the coyote tests positive for the virus.

       The first three victims and two dogs were bitten early Saturday at Lake Accotink Park, Curry said. Their injuries also were not life-threatening, but the park was closed because of the incident.

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       On Sunday morning, Fairfax animal protection officers and patrol officers were searching for the coyote in the 493-acre park just west of the Capital Beltway and spotted it near Carrleigh Parkway sometime after 10 a.m. Then at 12:37 p.m., a patrol officer was bitten by the coyote, “discharged his firearm and the coyote was found dead,” Curry said.

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       The park reopened at 3 p.m. Sunday.

       Coyotes, often associated with the West, have spread across the United States. Experts say attacks on humans without provocation are rare. Coyotes can carry rabies, which can alter behavior.

       If the coyote is found to be rabid, bite victims may undergo “postexposure prophylaxis,” which consists of one dose of immune globulin and four doses of rabies vaccine over a 14-day period, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The shots are given in the arm like any other vaccine, not the stomach, as is widely believed.