Man accused of shooting officer dies in shootout with police

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    ST. PETERS, Missouri (KMOV) — A man accused of shooting a St. Peters officer Thursday afternoon has died after officers shot him in Lincoln County.

Officials said the man shot the 41-year-old officer in the leg during a traffic stop at the 3000 block of Mid Rivers Mall Drive at 5:40 p.m. near the Walmart Neighborhood Market. The suspect then left the area and the officer was taken to a hospital and later released. His injury wasn’t life-threatening.

The Missouri State Highway Patrol issued a blue alert after the shooting saying troopers are looking for a blue Chevrolet Trailblazer with Missouri license plate 5SAY50. A blue alert is issued to help locate a suspect who has killed or seriously injured an officer.

Officers with the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office were told the suspect lived in southern Lincoln County. Officers went to the man’s house and saw him in his car. Officers tried to stop him but he kept driving and led officers to the 2600 block of Myers Road.

“I kept hearing sirens,” a witness said. Police shouted for him to get down. “With the sirens I couldn’t hear what they said whenever I heard a pop, I knew exactly what he said and I hit the ground and that guy shot at the cops quite a few times and then they finally went ahead and shot him.”

At 6:30, the man got out of his car with a gun and started firing at officers. Officers returned fire and the man died from his injuries. No officers were injured.

“[The suspect] started walking back to his car to reload, he was messing around with his door and he turned around and that’s when they finally got him,” a witness at the scene said.

The name of the suspect hasn’t been released. No other information was released.

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