Mo. man suspected in murders shot dead
http://dervishcom.blogspot.com/2011/12/mo-man-suspected-in-murders-shot-dead.html
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) – Authorities chased an ex-sheriff's deputy suspected in a double slaying down a Missouri highway and then on foot into a hotel lobby where the man was shot and wounded in an exchange of shots, sheriff's officials and local reports said.
Dent County Sheriff Rick Stallings said a witness reported 44-year-old Marvin Rice of Salem had shot a male and a female victim in that county Saturday, taking a 2-year-old child with him who he then dropped off with a family member. He said authorities were alerted at 6:30 p.m. Saturday to the deaths in a rural part of the Missouri county.
Stalling's statement said law enforcement officers, tracking Rice's cell phone signal, chased the former Dent County deputy north on Missouri Highway 63.
According to the statement, other law enforcement agencies were alerted and began pursuing Rice. Local reports said several attempts were made to stop Rice's vehicle using spike strips.
Stallings said the chased ended at the Capitol Plaza Hotel in Jefferson City, where Rice ran into the lobby and the shots were traded that wounded the man.
The News Tribune in Jefferson City said the chase crossed at least two counties besides Dent County and at least at one point reached speeds up to 100 mph before he drove into the hotel's parking lot about 9:20 p.m. It was not immediately clear how long the chase lasted and authorities released few details.
A hotel representative, who declined to be further identified, told The Associated Press that no guests were hurt.
"Everybody's fine; there's nobody injured" among those who were in the hotel, the representative said by telephone. But he said he was not authorized to provide any further information.
A Dent County sheriff's dispatcher, contacted by AP, declined to give details about Rice's condition or the earlier deaths.
The Missouri State Highway Patrol, which was investigating, did not release any immediate information and its public information officer, contacted by AP, did not returned telephone messages seeking more details.
The hotel is located just blocks from the state Capitol grounds in Jefferson City and its website indicates it also is host to conventions and other gatherings.
Wayne Becker, a Dent County special investigator, told The Columbia Tribune that the victims' identities were not being released immediately while relatives were being notified
Dent County Sheriff Rick Stallings said a witness reported 44-year-old Marvin Rice of Salem had shot a male and a female victim in that county Saturday, taking a 2-year-old child with him who he then dropped off with a family member. He said authorities were alerted at 6:30 p.m. Saturday to the deaths in a rural part of the Missouri county.
Stalling's statement said law enforcement officers, tracking Rice's cell phone signal, chased the former Dent County deputy north on Missouri Highway 63.
According to the statement, other law enforcement agencies were alerted and began pursuing Rice. Local reports said several attempts were made to stop Rice's vehicle using spike strips.
Stallings said the chased ended at the Capitol Plaza Hotel in Jefferson City, where Rice ran into the lobby and the shots were traded that wounded the man.
The News Tribune in Jefferson City said the chase crossed at least two counties besides Dent County and at least at one point reached speeds up to 100 mph before he drove into the hotel's parking lot about 9:20 p.m. It was not immediately clear how long the chase lasted and authorities released few details.
A hotel representative, who declined to be further identified, told The Associated Press that no guests were hurt.
"Everybody's fine; there's nobody injured" among those who were in the hotel, the representative said by telephone. But he said he was not authorized to provide any further information.
A Dent County sheriff's dispatcher, contacted by AP, declined to give details about Rice's condition or the earlier deaths.
The Missouri State Highway Patrol, which was investigating, did not release any immediate information and its public information officer, contacted by AP, did not returned telephone messages seeking more details.
The hotel is located just blocks from the state Capitol grounds in Jefferson City and its website indicates it also is host to conventions and other gatherings.
Wayne Becker, a Dent County special investigator, told The Columbia Tribune that the victims' identities were not being released immediately while relatives were being notified
