iStock/Thinkstock(CLINTON, Mo.) — A Clinton, Missouri, police officer who was gunned down Tuesday night had returned to that department after another officer there died in the line of duty last year, authorities said Wednesday.
Two other police officers were injured but survived the Tuesday night shooting in Clinton, about 75 miles southeast of Kansas City.
The officers were shot at about 9:30 p.m. when they entered a home after receiving a 911 call in which two women were screaming in the background, according to the Missouri State Highway Patrol.
After responding, the officers were fired at from inside the home and chose to go inside to “apprehend the suspect,” police said. The officers were struck by gunfire inside, with one dying on the scene.
By 12:30 a.m., authorities said, officers had entered the residence and found the suspect — 37-year-old James Waters — dead.
Officials were still investigating whether the suspect was shot by police or killed himself, Missouri State Highway Patrol Sgt. Bill Lowe said. No one else was injured.
“We’re still piecing everything together,” Lowe said. “We’re way early in the investigation.”
The two injured officers are being treated at a hospital for non-life-threatening injuries, police said.
The officer killed Tuesday was identified as 30-year-old Christopher Ryan Morton.
Morton’s death was seven months to the day after a fellow Clinton police officer, Gary Michael, was shot dead, ABC Kansas City affiliate KMBC-TV reported.
Michael was killed after pulling over a driver for a traffic violation in August, KMBC reported.
Morton had worked for the Clinton Police Department before Michael’s death and returned to the department after he had died, Lowe said.
“It’s hard to put into words what you go through when you have an officer killed in the line of duty, and then to have it happen to a department after a short period of time; that’s hard to wrap your head around,” Lowe said. “I do know the Clinton Police Department is a well-respected police department — not only in this area but around this area — and they’re going to forge on. They’ll need help along the way. We’re all saddened by this tragic event.”
Ian McCarthy has been charged with first-degree murder in the shooting of Michael. He has pleaded not guilty.
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