After manhunt, suspect in Illinois cop shooting is killed

ST. LOUIS — An Illinois man suspected of shooting a police officer after a traffic stop was shot and killed in an incident that also left an FBI agent wounded, Illinois State Police said Sunday.

Authorities said at a news conference that Dracy “Clint” Pendleton, of Bellflower, Illinois, was killed in an early morning shootout in an abandoned house in southern Illinois near the Shawnee National Forest. The name and condition of the wounded federal agent, who is expected to survive, was not immediately disclosed.

Pendleton was charged with attempted murder in the May 7 shooting of a Mahomet, Illinois, police officer. The incident also sparked a fatal collision when a trooper pursuing Pendleton struck and killed a 26-year-old who was driving her van in Decatur, Illinois.

The manhunt continued for more than a week, and part of the national forest was closed since Monday after authorities located a stolen pickup truck thought to have been used by Pendleton.

State police said Pendleton was seen just after midnight running into woods near a church cemetery, carrying a rifle and wearing a bandolier shoulder belt that holds bullet cartridges. He was found inside the home about half a mile away about 5 a.m., when a firefight with state police and FBI officers ensued.

An extended family member said previously that Pendleton, the father of two sons, both under 2, had recently moved out of his marital home after separating from his wife.

The central Illinois police officer was shot in the arm after a traffic stop initiated by a different police officer. He was treated at a hospital and released the following morning.