Morton is the second Clinton police officer shot and killed in the line of duty in seven months, the
Kasas City Star
reports. Another Clinton officer, Gary Michael, 37, was
mortally wounded in a shooting while conducting a traffic stop on Aug. 6.
Officer Morton was fatally shot while trying to apprehend the suspect. Two other officers were wounded in the gunfight. One of the wounded officers remained hospitalized Wednesday with moderate injuries. The other officer's injuries were minor, the patrol said.
A SWAT team entered the home at 12:10 a.m. Wednesday and found the suspect, 37-year-old James Waters, of Clinton, dead. Stosberg said the cause of the suspect's death is under investigation. A woman who was at the home was taken into custody, the
St. Louis Post-Dispatch
reports.
Court records show Waters had a history of convictions for drugs and resisting arrest. He served stints in prison from October 2000 through November 2002, May 2003 through April 2008, July 2008 through October 2012 and May 2014 through last July, according to Missouri Department of Corrections spokesman Garry Brix.
Waters was charged in November in Missouri's Cass County with unlawful possession of a firearm and drug possession, court records show. He pleaded not guilty, and the case was pending when he died.