A 16-hour-long search for a man who allegedly fired shots at a Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office deputy ended this morning (Feb. 16) after a county resident found the suspect sleeping in his shed in the 13000 block of Hwy. JJ south of De Soto and held the suspect at gunpoint until deputies arrived, authorities reported
The deputy was not struck by the gunshots, Jefferson County Sheriff Dave Marshak said.
“The deputy is doing fine,” Marshak added. “I talked to him at the scene. The deputy handled the situation very well.”
The manhunt began around 3 p.m. Thursday (Feb. 15) when “the deputy was returning from training and heard a call of a suspicious person in the area of Hwy. JJ and Hwy. T (east of Valles Mines),” Marshak said. “The deputy was nearby and immediately responded to check on the suspicious person. As soon as he saw a male subject that met the description, he started to exit his patrol car. The suspect turned around and fired numerous rounds at the patrol car. The deputy was not hit, but one of the rounds entered the patrol car by the driver’s side door.”
Marshak said he did not know which side of the car the deputy was on when the bullets started flying.
The suspect got away and the manhunt ensued. Law enforcement officers from the Sheriff’s Office, the St. Louis County Police Department and the Missouri State Highway Patrol helped with the search.
However, it was an alert De Soto-area man who found the suspect, Marshak said.
“This morning around 7:30 a.m. in the 13000 block of Hwy. JJ a homeowner noticed his shed door was open and he knew what had happened,” Marshak said. “He armed himself and found the subject sleeping in the shed. He held him at gunpoint until we arrived.”
Marshak said the suspect was still in custody this afternoon but had not yet been charged.
The case is still under investigation, Marshak said.