Carjacking suspect dead after shootout with police on Missouri interstate
ST. LOUIS -- A carjacking suspect died Monday after a shootout with police on a busy stretch of interstate near St. Louis, authorities said.
The incident began around 9 a.m. when a vehicle ran off the road near the intersection of Interstate 55 and Interstate 270. When someone tried to help the driver of the wrecked vehicle, he allegedly pointed a gun and demanded that person's car, St. Louis County police spokesman Shawn McGuire said.
Police said after realizing that he could not drive that car's manual transmission, the suspect held the man, along with his family, at gunpoint while carjacking another citizen's vehicle at gunpoint, CBS affiliate KMOV-TV in St. Louis reports.
Jefferson County Sheriff Dave Marshak identified the driver as 31-year-old Jerrod Kershaw of Pacific, Missouri. He said Kershaw also had several weapons in the vehicle and was wearing a ballistic vest.
Police said they received two calls Monday morning. Marshak said one was from Kershaw's mother, who said her son was heading to a nearby city to kill a relative and himself. Another caller said Kershaw made "homicidal and suicidal threats" at his workplace, which was not disclosed.
The suspect drove off on I-55, leading to a chase with police. McGuire said spike sticks were used to disable the car, but the suspect shot at police.
Officers returned gunfire, and the shootout prompted police to close a busy section of I-55 in both directions, McGuire said.
Police were unsure whether the driver had been shot, so they brought in a SWAT team and an armored vehicle. The teams determined the suspect was dead. Television footage of the area showed several police vehicles surrounding the car and the SWAT team approaching the vehicle.
No officers were injured in the shootout and a cruiser was seen with four bullet holes in the front windshield, police say.
Traffic backed up for miles in both directions along I-55. Officials rerouted traffic to alternative roadways.