Two sheriff’s deputies were shot and killed and two others injured as law enforcement tracked and later killed the suspect during a manhunt in rural Stone County in southern Missouri.
The Springfield (Mo.) Daily Citizen reported the suspect, 45-year-old Richard Dean Bird, was killed in a shootout with law enforcement.
“It’s been a long day. It’s been a trying day,” Christian County Sheriff Brad Cole said in a press conference. “And the upcoming days are going to be harder than today was.”
The events began about 3:50 p.m. Monday when Bird was believed to have shot and killed Christian County Sheriff’s Deputy Gabriel Ramirez during a traffic stop near Highway 160 near Highlandville, Mo., between Springfield and Branson.
Bird fled the scene, prompting a massive search, the newspaper reported. The truck he was driving had been found abandoned about 12 miles south of the original stop, near Reeds Spring.
As officers from numerous agencies converged on the scene, a highway patrol helicopter picked up on a heat signature in the woods, the sheriff said.
As law enforcement officers approached, Cole said Bird immediately opened fire on them, killing a deputy, Michael Hislope and injuring two others.
As more officers descended upon the area, Bird continued to shoot at officers, who returned fire and killed him, the newspaper reported.
The two injured deputies, one from Christian County and the other from nearby Webster County, were being treated for their injuries, which were not believed to be life-threatening, the newspaper reported.
