Associated Press
WEBSTER GROVES, Mo. — A shootout along the side of an interstate in suburban St. Louis has left a police officer injured and the suspect in his shooting dead, authorities investigating the incident said.
The shooting happened around 8:30 p.m. Tuesday when a Webster Groves police officer stopped to help what he thought was a stranded motorist along Interstate 44, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported.
As soon as the officer got out of his patrol car, a man who had been in a car parked along the interstate opened fire on the officer, Missouri State Highway Patrol spokesman Dallas Thompson said . The officer returned fire, and both the officer and suspect were shot several times.
The injured officer used a tourniquet on himself to stop the bleeding and called for help, St. Louis County Police spokesman Benjamin Granda said. Another officer who arrived to help took the officer to a hospital. The suspect died at the scene.
Police have not named the suspect or the officer, but Granda said the officer is 36 and has been on the job nearly eight years.