Two sheriff’s deputies were killed while conducting a traffic stop in southwestern Missouri on Monday, triggering a manhunt that eventually led to the death of a suspect and wounding of two more officers, officials said.
The two deputies from the Christian County Sheriff’s Office died from gunshot wounds after a driver opened fire when they pulled him over on the highway at around 4 p.m. local time, near the town of Highlandville, CBS affiliate KMOV reported. Officials identified one of the deputies who was killed as 30-year-old Gabriel Ramirez, but none of the other three have been named, according to the news station.
A manhunt involving roughly 100 officers, including state troopers and federal agents from the U.S. Marshals Service, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, and the FBI, kicked off to find the suspected shooter, Christian County Sheriff Brad Cole told KMOV. Missouri Gov. Mike Kehoe had said he was in contact with Cole while the search was underway and asked the people with information about the suspect for help.
Missouri State Highway Patrol announced that the suspect, 45-year-old Richard Bird, was in custody Monday night after alerting the public to the search in Stone County, near Christian County, which is where the suspect’s abandoned truck had been found. The Stone County Sheriff’s Office later confirmed that the suspect was dead.
Cole told KMOV that Bird attempted to hide from search crews in a wooded area but was spotted by a Highway Patrol helicopter. He opened fire again as deputies approached him and was killed as the officers returned fire, KMOV reported.
Stone County Sheriff Doug Rader said in a Facebook video that it was “probably the worst day in the history of the Christian County Sheriff’s Office.” He added that the wounded officers were expected to recover.