An Illinois sheriff's deputy was found shot and killed after he had headed to a traffic call near the Indiana border early Wednesday.
Wayne County Sheriff's Deputy Sean Riley responded to a motorist in need of assistance at around 5 a.m. along Interstate 64 near Mills Shoals. Another deputy drove out to the scene to provide backup, and that's when Riley was discovered fatally shot and his cruiser gone, The Southern Illinoisan reports.
Investigators shut down the interstate in both directions near the Illinois/Indiana border for several hours. Eventually, Riley's vehicle was found abandoned elsewhere on the highway.
By Wednesday afternoon, a 40-year-old suspect had been taken into custody stemming from the shooting. Ray Tate was apprehended shortly before 2 p.m. following a hostage standoff in Carlyle.
Tate also had been connected with a violent incident that happened at a convenience store Missouri. He was accused of carjacking and shooting an individual at a QuikTrip in St. Peters just after 7 a.m. before driving off in a white Nissan Titan pickup truck, according to police.
The vehicle then was spotted in surveillance camera footage in O'Fallon, roughly 5 miles from St. Peters. The carjacking suspect also is considered a suspect in Riley's killing, and he is considered armed and dangerous, according to St. Peters police.
Tate also was wanted for a carjacking in Knox County, Indiana, earlier this month. He currently is in Clinton County Jail and faces charges in multiple jurisdictions.
