By Brennan David
Columbia Daily Tribune
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. — A former Dent County sheriff’s deputy who is suspected in a double homicide was shot in the lobby of the Capitol Plaza Hotel in Jefferson City on Saturday night.
Dent County Sheriff Rick Stallings said his office was notified at 6:30 p.m. Saturday of a double homicide in rural Dent County. Stallings said a witness reported two victims, a male and female, had been shot by 44-year-old Marvin Rice, a former Dent County sheriff’s deputy.
Stallings said Rice had fled the scene with a 2-year-old child. He said Rice left the child with a family member and then fled the county. Law enforcement was able to track Rice by his cellphone and discovered that he was driving northbound on Highway 63.
Other agencies were notified and began pursuing Rice. Officers made several attempts to stop the vehicle with spike strips, the Jefferson City News-Tribune reported. The chase ended at the hotel at 415 W. McCarty St. Deputies and officers from the Jefferson City Police Department pursued Rice into the hotel, shots were exchanged and Rice was shot and injured, Stallings said.
Rice’s condition is unknown. The Missouri State Highway Patrol’s Division of Drug and Crime Control is conducting the investigation.
Wayne Becker, Dent County special investigator, said the victims’ identities are not being released at this time because family of the victim has not been notified.
Copyright 2011 Columbia Daily Tribune