RAYMORE, Missouri — A convoy of law enforcement chasing down a suspect on I-49 just before midnight Wednesday caught up to him just south of Raymore, Missouri after he hit a spike strip near mile marker 170. But the 27-year-old, who had two active warrants in Jackson County, wasn't done running.
With his current vehicle disabled, he got out of the car in the middle of the interstate and pointed the gun at his own head and at oncoming traffic, officials said. As oncoming traffic approached, authorities say he opened fire and eventually carjacked an innocent driver in a white SUV who stopped in fear.
Missouri State Highway Patrol troopers, Raymore Police officers and a Cass County deputy in tow, the man sped north toward Raymore and made his way off the highway into a subdivision, but he didn't get far.
The chase came to an abrupt halt near the roundabout at North Dean Avenue and Lucy Webb Road. Missouri State Highway Patrol spokesperson Sgt. Collin Stosberg said the suspect got out and again pointed a gun at his own head, but then turned his attention to troopers.
No agency would immediately confirm who pulled the trigger, only that the suspect was shot shortly after pointing his weapon at law enforcement. An ambulance took him to Research Medical Center with serious injuries, where he later died, Stosberg said.
Stosberg said the suspect, originally from Houston, Texas, had Jackson County warrants on burglary and drug charges in an unrelated incident.
"No vehicles were hit. Thankfully, no citizens were injured," Stosberg said. "We're definitely thankful for that. This could have been a lot worse than it was."
With help from the Cass County Sheriff's Office and the Raymore Police Department, the drug crime control division of MSHP will be handling the investigation.
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