Three police officers shot, one dead in altercation in Missouri

CNN
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Three police officers in Joplin, Missouri, were shot Tuesday during a pursuit of a suspect, and one officer died, authorities said.

Assistant Police Chief Brian Lewis told the Joplin Globe newspaper that officers and a suspect exchanged gunfire at the Northpark Crossing shopping center. The suspect fled and there was a second shooting with officers at a different location.

Jasper County Coroner Randy Nace told CNN the suspect and one officer had died. Their names were not released Tuesday evening.

Lewis did not tell reporters on the scene how events started. CNN has reached out to the Joplin Police Department for more information.

Missouri Lt. Gov. Mike Kehoe said in a tweet he was “praying for the officers involved in the shooting today in Joplin, as well as for their families and fellow officers.”

According to the Officer Down Memorial Page, a non-profit dedicated to memorializing fallen officers, 66 officers have died in the line of duty this year, including eight by gunfire, before Tuesday.