MISSOURI STATE HIGHWAY PATROL
a division of the
DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC SAFETY

Troop G Headquarters-1226 W. Bus. Highway 60/63-Willow Springs, MO 65793


News Release

For further information please contact: Sergeant Martin K. Elmore
417-469-3121, Ext. 241
G-04123
April 13, 2012

EMPHASIS: Birch Tree Police Officer Involved Shooting



At approximately 12:04 a.m., on Thursday, April 12, 2012, two officers from the Missouri State Highway Patrol responded to a report of a motor vehicle crash involving a Birch Tree, Missouri, police officer. The crash occurred on U.S. Highway 60, approximately two miles west of Birch Tree.
Upon arriving at the scene, the Missouri State Highway Patrol troopers located an injured Birch Tree police officer, and found the body of a deceased individual lying on the ground a short distance from the officer's 2005 Ford Crown Victoria. The deceased individual, identified as Ronald David Andrews, 51, Mountain View, Missouri, had sustained an apparent gunshot wound to the torso.
In the course of the investigation, it was determined that the Birch Tree officer was attempting to transport Andrews to Mountain View, Missouri, as part of an alleged assault investigation. A struggle occurred between the Birch Tree officer and Andrews, resulting in the vehicle traveling out of control, off the right side of the roadway, down a steep embankment, and through two fences, before coming to rest in a field. A subsequent struggle over a weapon in the patrol car resulted in both individuals exiting the vehicle, where the officer fired one shot from his duty weapon, striking and fatally wounding Andrews.
The Birch Tree officer was treated at Mercy Saint Francis Hospital in Mountain View, and subsequently released.
Officers from the Missouri State Highway Patrol's Division of Drug and Crime Control responded to the scene. The investigation continues.

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