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... but the Crown-Vic might have helped.
Trooper shoots, kills suspect in northeast Washington
The Associated Press
SPOKANE — A Washington State Patrol trooper shot and killed a man he said was threatening him with an assault rifle following a chase on U.S. Highway 2.
The dead man was identified late Tuesday as Andre C. Laurent, 54, of Hope, Idaho, described by Trooper Jeffrey J. Sevigney as a convicted felon with an extensive criminal history. State troopers and Pend Oreille County sheriff's deputies were investigating.
Sevigney said Trooper Kyle C. Witt, 30, who has been with the patrol for 5 1/2 years, followed a white Cadillac that was being driven erratically for more than a mile before the car pulled over about 2 p.m. Tuesday about a mile north of the Spokane-Pend Oreille county line.
When Laurent got out of the car with an AK-47-style rifle, Witt got back into his cruiser and used it to knock down the older man and push the Cadillac down an embankment, Sevigney said.
Laurent pointed the rifle at Witt as he got out of his cruiser, and the trooper opened fire with his .40-caliber H&K semiautomatic service pistol, Sevigney said. Laurent died at the scene.
Sevigney said he didn't know how many rounds Witt got off, but Laurent fired none.
Copyright © 2006 The Seattle Times Company