A 40-year-old Cedar Hill man is dead after allegedly shooting and injuring two Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office deputies early this morning (Oct. 11) in Cedar Hill.
Both deputies have been treated and released from an area hospital.
The assailant, Shawn Nims, was shot by an officer several hours later after an intensive manhunt culminated in a home on Cedar Drive in Cedar Hill Lakes.
Police arrested a woman who came out of the home shortly before Nims emerged through a window at about 8:20 a.m.. He was carrying an military-style rifle, according to the Sheriff’s Office, and was ordered to drop it.
When he did not, a law enforcement officer fired at Nims, striking him, and he died at the scene, the Sheriff's Office reported.
Jefferson County Sheriff Glenn Boyer said officers took appropriate action.
"This is a man who has already shot two officers, in fact, ambushed them, and then fled the scene. He was armed and refused to drop his weapon," Boyer said.
The incident began about 11:09 p.m. Thursday when deputies responded to a 911 hang-up call in the 7400 block of Twin Ridge Road in Cedar Hill. Nims is believed to have fled from that home as the officers arrived.
They returned to the residence at 2:05 a.m. to search for Nims. Deputies Nina Osia, 22, and Michael Toombs, 43, were entering the basement of the home when shots were fired.
Osia was struck in the ankle and sustained a broken tibia. Toombs was shot in the upper arm/shoulder, according to the report.
Nims fled again, prompting a multi-department manhunt that ended later this morning at the home on Cedar Drive.
Police agencies that responded besides the Jefferson County Sheriff's Office included the Missouri State Highway Patrol, the Franklin County Sheriff's Department including its S.W.A.T. team, and the Byrnes Mill Police Department.
Boyer said police came from as far away as St. Ann to help with the manhunt.
"We are appreciative of all the agencies that helped. We had assistance from everybody and anybody," he said. "It's a brotherhood."
Boyer said the woman who exited the home has been taken into custody. He did not know if she would be charged.
Ida Douglas, 78, lives in the 8300 block of Hwy B on the north side of the Cedar Hill Lakes subdivision about 1,000 feet from where the incident ended. She said she was relieved to learn that the situation had been resolved.
“I think it’s great that they found him, not that I wanted to see him killed or anything,” Douglas said.
She said she received a phone call at 6:30 a.m. today from the Sheriff’s Office through the Code Red network.
“They said that this is the police department and we have a warrant for Shawn Nims. They said he was on the loose between Cedar Hill and Dittmer, and if I see him call 911,” Douglas said. “I heard the helicopters and the dogs were barking. I was worried about it, but I decided I was not going to worry.
“They told me to call if I saw him, so I laid there with the phone in my hand, and thought if I see him, I’ll just call 911.”
Nims had been charged in January with tampering with a motor vehicle in the first degree, a class C felony, by Lincoln County authorities, but had not been taken into custody on that charge. Earlier, he had pleaded guilty in 1992 in St. Louis County to misdemeanor stealing, and in 2004 in Jefferson County to felony marijuana possession. He received a three-year sentence in that case.