Story Created:
Nov 24, 2009 at 8:37 PM CDT
Story Updated:
Nov 25, 2009 at 12:28 AM CDT
Update: After an officer involved shooting, two Greene County sheriff’s deputies are on paid administrative leave. The sheriff’s office places all officers on leave who are involved in a shooting incident. The officers were involved in a shooting that left one man dead late Tuesday in north Springfield. The death could be linked to a Monday morning report of gunfire in the Polk County community of Bolivar.
Greene County Sheriff Jim Arnott says four officers in two seperate cars were following a suspect in that Bolivar shooting and tried to pull over the pickup truck shortly after 5 p.m. Tuesday near Division and Frisco. Each law enforcement vehicle had one Greene County deputy and one U.S. Marshal inside.
A witness says at least one shot rang out -- and the lawmen in the trailing car apparently then opened fire.
The witness says after the initial shot another six to eight shots were fired. She ran outside her home and says officers had their guns drawn; she says she saw one man in the pickup truck falling out onto the ground.
Two others inside the truck were quickly cuffed and taken into custody. Arnott says he believes the man involved in the Bolivar shooting incident is the man who died at the scene but he is waiting on a positive identification from the medical examiner. He says once the man's family is notified they will release his name.
On Monday around 3 a.m. an officer in Bolivar was searching for a vehicle he says ran from him during a traffic stop. The officer found the vehicle abandoned near Park Avenue. As the officer got out of his patrol vehicle, he says someone fired four shots in his direction.
Bolivar officers searched for the man with a K-9 but did not find the suspect. Officers say they found stolen merchandise and several weapons inside the abandoned stolen vehicle. On Monday, investigators say they identified the driver but were unable to find him.
As of 10 p.m. Tuesday, both men who were riding in the truck, were questioned and released without charges. An investigation into the shooting continues.