Two cops, one suspect killed in traffic stop shootout in rural Wisconsin
Two Wisconsin police officers and a suspect died in a shootout Saturday afternoon after a routine traffic stop.
Neither the officers nor the suspect were immediately identified following the incident in Cameron, a 2,000-person town about 75 miles east of Minneapolis.
“It tears [the community] apart, of course, puts it on edge,” Cameron resident Kate King told local CBS affiliate WCCO. “Always wondering who to trust, what will happen around the corner. It’s a frightening thing.”
An officer from the nearby town of Chetek pulled over a car around 3:30 p.m. Saturday in Cameron, the Wisconsin Department of Justice said in a press release.
During the traffic stop, gunfire was exchanged between the suspect, the officer from Chetek and another officer from Cameron. Both cops were pronounced dead at the scene.
The suspect was transported to a nearby hospita and later pronounced dead.
The Wisconsin Department of Justice is investigating the shootout but provided no further details.
“Our hearts are heavy for the Chetek and Cameron police officers who lost their lives in the line of duty yesterday,” Gov. Tony Evers said Sunday. “[My wife] Kathy and I are praying for the officers’ families, colleagues, and the Barron County community mourning this tragic loss.”
The two officers were the second and third cops to be killed in the line of duty in Wisconsin this year. In early February, Milwaukee police officer Peter Jerving was fatally shot by a robbery suspect he was trying to arrest. That suspect, Terrell Thompson, was then killed by other officers.
