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A police officer was killed, and two officers were wounded Tuesday in at least two exchanges of gunfire with a suspect in Missouri, who was also killed, authorities said.
Joplin assistant police Chief Brian Lewis said the officers had responded to a disturbance around 1:30 p.m. outside a store at the Northpark Crossing shopping center in Joplin, about 150 miles south of Kansas City. Shots were exchanged, and two of the officers were injured, Lewis said.
Officers pursued the fleeing suspect to a residential area in central Joplin, where a second exchange of gunfire took place. Police said another officer and the suspect were struck by gunfire during that altercation, according to the Joplin Globe.
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Main St. in Joplin, Missouri on July 2, 2020. (Photo by Terra Fondriest for The Washington Post via Getty Images).
“At this time, we have three officers who were hit and transported for treatment,” Lewis said. “The suspect was hit as well and transported for treatment.”
On Tuesday evening, Jasper County coroner, Randy Mace, confirmed that one of the officers and the suspect had died, according to the Globe. Mace said he could not yet release the names of the officer or the suspect.
Police later said that one of the injured officers was in critical condition, while the other was in serious but stable condition.
Lewis said there was no threat to the community.
Three Joplin police officers were shot in Joplin, Missouri, on Tuesday afternoon
(Joplin Police Department)
Police noted a third scene was involved in the investigation, though Lewis did not provide additional details.
“There’s a bigger picture we haven’t put together yet,” he said.
Kim Jenkins, a resident who lives near where the third officer and suspect were shot, told the Globe that she went to her front door after hearing sirens, and saw a man with a gun hiding behind her neighbor’s fence across the street.
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Jenkins said an officer came down the street and stopped in front of a van that the suspect was later using as cover.
That’s when the suspect opened fire on the officer, she said, noting that it appeared the officer was shot through the windshield of his patrol car.
“I don’t think he even had time to get out when the guy started shooting,” Jenkins said.
Soon after, other officers arrived at the scene and exchanged gunfire with the suspect, who fell to the ground after being shot, she said.
The investigation will be turned over to the Missouri State Highway Patrol after the crime scenes are processed, the Globe reported.
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More information will be released at a 9 a.m. news conference on Wednesday at City Hall.
The Joplin Police Department — when at full staff — employs 110 sworn officers.
The Associated Press contributed to this report
