CRAWFORD COUNTY, Mo. -- A Missouri state trooper shot and killed a Bourbon man Wednesday morning after he eluded police during a pursuit.
The incident happened at about 10:30 a.m. in Crawford County. Gary E. Wenzel, 50, was killed. The Missouri Highway Patrol said that a Bourbon police officer tried to stop a black Chevrolet Cavalier in Bourbon after recognizing it as a vehicle that had eluded police in Sullivan during a pursuit. The vehicle did not stop, and the pursuit continued north from Bourbon and into Gasconade County, and then south back into Crawford County. The pursuit ended at Route J and Fann Road, where the Cavalier crashed and the trooper shot Wenzel.
The trooper was not hurt. The investigation is continuing. The Missouri Highway Patrol did not say in a press release why Wenzel was being pursued in the first place nor did it give details as to what immediately prompted the shooting. The patrol didn't immediately respond for comment.
Wenzel's criminal past includes convictions for a drug charge and property damage, which happened in 2001 and 2002. He was released from prison on those charges in 2012 and his most recent charge was a 2013 misdemeanor for littering.
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