Two Missouri officers shot. Suspect still at large.
(UPDATE POST)
HERMANN, Mo. (AP) — A Missouri police officer has been killed and a second officer is badly wounded after a shooting at a small-town convenience store.
The shooting about 9:30 p.m. Sunday killed Detective Sgt. Mason Griffith of the Hermann Police Department. Authorities have not released the name of the injured officer. The Missouri State Highway Patrol said the injured officer was in serious but stable condition at a hospital.
The patrol has not released information about what led to the shooting. It wasn’t clear if the officers returned fire. The patrol identified the suspect as 35-year-old Kenneth Lee Simpson of St. Louis County, who got away.
The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported Monday that police are focusing their search for Simpson on a home along Highway 19 near Hermann, not far from where the shooting happened.
Police surrounded the home and yelled for him to come outside. Officers earlier searched near a motel in Hermann, where the Post-Dispatch said Simpson and his girlfriend may have rented a room Sunday.
Online Missouri court records show Simpson has a long history of criminal charges involving drugs, weapons offenses, assault and property damage. A St. Louis County judge issued a warrant for Simpson’s arrest in August when he failed to show up in court in a drug possession case.
Hermann is a town of about 2,100 residents, about 80 miles (130 kilometers) west of St. Louis. It is the county seat of Gasconade County.
(ORIGINAL POST)
HERMANN, Mo. – The Missouri State Highway Patrol issued a Blue Alert late Sunday evening after two officers with the Hermann Police Department were shot.
The shooting happened just before 9:20 p.m. at the Casey’s General Store in the 800 block of Market Street, in Hermann.
Hermann is located approximately 75 miles west of St. Louis, along the Missouri River.
State police claim Kenneth Lee Simpson is the shooter.
Simpson, 35, stands 5’10” tall and weighs approximately 180 pounds. He has hazel eyes and red hair.
Simpson was driving a black 2014 Jeep Wrangler with Missouri license plates RF5A0P.
The circumstances of the shooting were not disclosed. There’s been no word on the condition of the officers, either.
Anyone with information on Simpson’s whereabouts is asked to contact their local law enforcement agency.
