2 Missouri sheriff’s deputies fatally shot, 2 others wounded, authorities say

A man with a long criminal history fatally shot a Missouri sheriff’s deputy during a traffic stop and then killed a second deputy in a gunbattle hours later as the deputy tried to save two wounded officers, authorities said Tuesday.

“We will be honoring them for a lifetime,” Christian County Sheriff Brad Cole said at a news conference in praise of the slain men.

Cole said the suspect, 45-year-old Richard Dean Bird, also was killed. Bird’s death came just after hours after he was charged in a burglary case — the latest in a string of criminal misconduct cases that included a conviction for shooting at Kansas law enforcement more than a decade ago.

Cole said it all started just before 4 p.m. Monday with a traffic stop south of Highlandville in southwest Missouri. He said Deputy Gabriel Ramirez was found dead in the roadway afterward.

More than 100 deputies, state troopers, U.S. Marshals and agents from the FBI and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives searched for hours after Bird’s pickup truck was found about 15 miles (24 kilometers) away, near the Stone County town of Reeds Spring.

Around 11:30 p.m., deputies approached a heat signature detected in the woods and Bird began shooting. Cole said Christian County Deputy Josh Wahl was struck in the leg, and Webster County Deputy Austin McCall sustained four gunshot wounds.

While attempting to reach the wounded men, Christian County Deputy Michael Hislope was killed...