A Festus man is dead after leading police on a chase this afternoon (Aug. 24) along I-55 from Herculaneum north to Arnold and back south to Festus.
Whether he shot himself or was killed by law enforcement is not yet known, said Capt. Gary Higginbotham of the Jefferson County Sheriff, speaking from the crime scene about 2:30 p.m. He said he did not know exactly when the incident began or have any other information about the suspect.
“It started in Herculaneum with a traffic stop,” he said. “It was an assault of an officer where the officer was dragged by the car. The officer was not hurt.
“But, that began the pursuit that went north on I-55 to Arnold, back on I-55 south to Festus. They ended up in a subdivision at a house in the 1100 block of Alexander Drive.”
The man shot at police vehicles during the pursuit and continued shooting after stopping his vehicle in the Alexander Heights subdivision, Higginbotham said.
“He was firing at law enforcement,” Higginbotham said. “He fired numerous shots at police vehicles during the pursuit.”
Higginbotham said no officers were injured, but “there were police cars hit.”
A Dunklin R-5 School District spokesman said law enforcement told school officials today that the man killed after the pursuit is not the same man suspected of recently trying to entice area children.