COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)
After a nearly nine-hour standoff on Tuesday, a Columbia Police Department deputy chief said the suspect involved was found dead in the building with an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound.
CPD Deputy Chief Jeremiah Hunter said Jermaine M. Burnett was found dead after Boone County Sheriff’s deputies entered the building.
Hunter said the University of Missouri Police Department will investigate. He said the scene is safe for people to go home.
A resident of the apartment complex told ABC 17 News that residents were being moved back into their apartments.
Police used gas earlier in the day in an attempt to drag the suspect out of an apartment in southern Colombia. They also returned fire after the suspect shot them, a police official said.
On Tuesday, police were trying to reach the suspect, Burnett, in the shooting death of a woman Monday in a neighborhood in southern Colombia.
Janet L. Jago, 72, died after the shooting on Tayside Circle in the Highlands neighborhood, the Columbia Police Department announced Tuesday afternoon. Staff had also blocked off the Forest Village apartment complex on South Providence Road on Tuesday afternoon.
Jago was married to Art Jago, a retired University of Missouri professor who unsuccessfully ran for a seat in the Columbia City Council’s Fifth Ward.
Hunter said Tuesday afternoon that two people police believe were hostages who turned themselves in. Crisis negotiators tried to get Burnett out of the second-floor apartment, he said Tuesday afternoon.
Hunter said earlier Tuesday that Burnett knew people at the apartment complex.
Burnett exchanged gunfire with officers, but no one was injured in the exchange. Hunter said police also used gas to try to get the suspect out. He refused to receive medical attention, Hunter said.
Hunter said the gun fired at the officers by Burnett looked like a rifle. Law enforcement was communicating with Burnett via cell phone.
“He told us he was going to turn himself in, but he hasn’t done so yet,” Hunter said before 6:30 p.m.
Management of the apartment complex asked residents in an email to stay away. Hunter said police help residents get to their apartments if they are in a safe place. Officers have worked with people who live in an unsafe area to make alternative arrangements.
Officers responded to a robbery in progress on East Tayside Circle in the Highlands area on Monday afternoon. Upon arrival, they found a woman with gunshot wounds and performed CPR on her, Columbia Police Department spokeswoman Toni Messina said Monday.
Police identified the suspect late Tuesday morning, which led them to the apartment complex, after monitoring him from Monday evening, Hunter said. Police released Burnett’s name on
Boone County District Attorney Roger Johnson said his office has reviewed search warrant requests related to the case and has been in contact with investigators.
The victim, later identified as Jago, was taken to a local hospital. It was unclear when she was pronounced dead.
Charges were filed against a man named Jermaine M. Burnett in a separate case on Tuesday. He was charged with two counts of second-degree domestic assault and second-degree property damage, stemming from an alleged incident on Friday, according to Casenet.
He also faced charges filed in April, including first-degree tampering with a motor vehicle, first-degree property damage and resisting arrest. In this case, a request for revocation of bail was filed on Tuesday.
Check back for updates as this story develops.