Missouri Altercation Leaves Police, Assaulter Dead

BONNE TERRE, Missouri, USA (AP) A policeman and a gunman were killed in a shooting that took place early Thursday at a motel in eastern Missouri, an incident in which another officer was injured, authorities said.

Bonne Terre Lane Burns police officer and Corporal Garrett Worley were sent to attend an altercation at a Motel 6 motel around 12:30 in the morning, Missouri State Highway Patrol spokesman Dallas Thompson said The Associated Press.

When both were on their way to the room where the altercation was reported, a man came out firing a gun and shot the two cops, according to Thompson. The officers responded to the assault and killed the man, whom Thompson identified as James Emery, 21 and a native of St. Louis.

“We're still trying to figure out what I was doing in Bonne Terre,” Thompson said. “We don't know if he was just spending the night or if he was staying in the area for any reason.”

Burns, 30, was taken to a hospital in the area, where he later died, Thompson added. Worley, 28, was taken in a medical helicopter to a trauma center in St. Louis, where he underwent surgery for a gunshot wound to the leg, Thompson said. The spokesman said he was unaware of Worley's state of health.

“This is something every cop fears,” Thompson told KMOV-TV a few hours after the shooting. “They always think about this.”

Burns had been with the Bonne Terre Police Department for five years, Thompson said, and Worley is a seven-year veteran in the department.

Bonne Terre is 80 kilometers (50 miles) southwest of St. Louis. The police are investigating what happened.