‘TODAY WE ARE HURTING’

Two Missouri Cops Dead After Suspect Flees in Stolen Police Car

A third officer, who was shot in the face by the suspect, remains in serious but stable condition.

A second police officer has died in southwest Missouri after an attempt to take a suspect into custody went awry on Tuesday. The city of Joplin’s police chief said Thursday that he had been informed Officer Jake Reed would not recover from injuries sustained during the arrest attempt. “We’re so proud and so thankful and forever in debt for his services to his community,” the chief, Sloan Rowland, said. As officers responded to Tuesday’s disturbance, the suspect, identified as 40-year-old Anthony Felix, fired shots at two of them. Felix then stole a police car and fled, according to the Associated Press. He continued firing as he drove away, eventually crashing the vehicle. Pursued on foot, Felix was fatally shot by officers returning fire. It was earlier reported that police Cpl. Benjamin Cooper had also been killed in the incident. A third officer, shot in the face by Felix, was listed in serious but stable condition on Thursday. “We are a large family at the Joplin Police Department, a very large extended family,” Rowland said on Wednesday, “and today we are hurting.”