AR - Sgt. Brandon Paudert, 39, & Ofc. Bill Evans, 38, West Memphis, 20 May 2010

[KaylynnCouture]

Two police officers doing anti-drug work were fatally shot by two men with AK-47s along a busy Arkansas interstate on Thursday, and the suspects later died in a shootout that injured the local sheriff and a deputy in a crowded Walmart parking lot, authorities said.

Officers pulled over a white minivan with Ohio license plates while "running drug interdiction" on Interstate 40 in east Arkansas, said West Memphis Police Inspector Bert Shelton. Two men got out of the van with the assault rifles and opened fire on the officers, he said.

Sgt. Brandon Paudert, 39, the son of West Memphis' police chief, died at the scene and Officer Bill Evans, 38, died at a hospital, authorities said. Evans made the initial stop, and Paudert arrived moments later as backup, Assistant Police Chief Mike Allen said.

"In what was probably only a few minutes, Officer Evans was shoved to the ground and the men in the minivan started shooting at both officers," Allen said late Thursday. Investigators believe the van then sped away, he said.

Snipped from http://www.foxnews.com/us/2010/05/2...chief-shot-dead-traffic-stop/?test=latestnews

 

[Fairy1]

I didn't see this story when it was originally posted by KC and just stumbled upon it today because of the update on CNN.

This didn't end at the PO's being killed.

http://www.wmctv.com/Global/story.asp?S=12734038

Makes me really sad. If you look around for associated stories, you can find a good deal of info on the shooter and his father. The kid was only 16.

So sad, all around.