BONNE TERRE, Mo. — The Missouri State Highway Patrol identified the man who killed a police officer and wounded another early Thursday morning in Bonne Terre as a 31-year-old man who most recently lived in Ironton.
Patrol spokesman Cpl. Dallas Thompson said police were called shortly after midnight to Motel 6 on Highway K for a report of a disturbance. When officers arrived, James Emery came out of a ground floor room with a gun and began shooting at them.
Bonne Terre police Officer Lane Burns, 30, and Cpl. Garrett Worley, 27, were hit by gunfire from Emery. Officers returned fire, killing Emery.
Burns, who had been with the Bonne Terre police department for five years, was killed. Worley, a seven-year department veteran, was seriously wounded after he was shot in the leg.
Emery's uncle, who asked that his name not be used, said family members were "shocked" to find out that he shot two officers. The uncle said his nephew was "elusive" and he last saw his "briefly about a year ago."
A woman who lived at a Maplewood address linked to Emery said she was friends with his father. Emery and his dad lived with the woman until she evicted him in June 2019 following his father's death. The younger Emery wasn't married and didn't have any children.
Back in Bonne Terre, black bunting and blue balloons hung in honor of the two police officers involved in Thursday's shooting while family, friends and supporters prepared for a vigil Sunday night at the North County High School football field.