Texas State Trooper Killed
 

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Tyler man sought in fatal shooting of DPS trooper
Authorities looking for blue Dodge Intrepid


Associated Press

KELLYVILLE — A statewide search is under way for a suspect in the overnight shooting death of a Texas Department of Public Safety trooper in East Texas.

Killed in the 8 p.m. shooting Tuesday was Trooper James Scott Burns, 39, according to the DPS.

Authorities are searching for Brandon Wayne Robertson, 37, of Tyler, according to a DPS statement issued this morning.

DPS spokeswoman Tela Mange said the shooting happened after a chase that ended near the intersection of FM 1969 and FM 729, just west of Kellyville in Marion County, near Lake O' The Pines. Kellyville is about 135 miles east of Dallas.

A passerby saw the wounded trooper and used Burns' radio to report that he had been shot.

The DPS describes Robertson as a white man with green eyes and red hair, 6 feet 2 inches tall and weighing 250 pounds.

Authorities are looking for a 1997 blue Dodge Intrepid with Texas license 039-LCG.

Anyone with information about Robertson or the car should call 911, Mange said.

Burns is the 83rd DPS trooper to die in the line of duty. The most recent death came on March 14, 2007, when the patrol car of Trooper Todd Dylan Holmes was struck broadside by an 18-wheeler as he attempted to cross a highway to pursue a vehicle.

My prayers go out to the family of Trooper Burns and to the DPS community and anyone affected by this senseless killing.

+1, it is never nice to learn of a downed officer.

+1. Suspect is apparently former LEO. Very sad.

I'm so sorry to hear this. :( I had the honor to be in Las Vegas the day of Sgt. Henry Prendis' funeral. Just heartbreaking. My prayers go out to this fallen officers family.

What a slap in the face to the Law Enforcement community!!!!

Sorry to hear. Prayers go out to everyone effected by this.

UPDATE - Hot off the press:
Unofficial news....the suspect just took his own life after a brief gunfight with law enforcement officials.
More to follow.....

Tyler man sought in trooper's killing found dead

© 2008 The Associated Press
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LINDEN, Texas — The suspect in the fatal shooting of a Department of Public Safety trooper killed himself in East Texas on Thursday as authorities closed in on his location, DPS said.
The body of Brandon Wayne Robertson, 37, was found dead of a self-inflicted gunshot wound just outside of Linden in Cass County. DPS said that authorities had been tracking him with the help of calls he made to 911 and calls to a tip line.
Robertson, a former police officer, was named in a capital murder warrant in the death of Trooper James Scott Burns, a 39-year-old who was killed Tuesday night after pulling over a car near Lake O' The Pines in East Texas.
Burns didn't have a chance to remove his seat belt as he stopped his patrol car, just before getting shot multiple times with a shotgun, authorities said. A passer-by later used the trooper's radio to call for help.
Robertson was an East Texas police officer for seven years at departments in Rusk County, Overton and Kilgore, according to the Texas Commission on Law Enforcement Standards and Education. He left law enforcement in 1999.
Robertson's girlfriend was taken into custody Thursday. DPS said that criminal charges are pending against her.
Robertson was arrested by Department of Public Safety troopers as recently as April 6, when he was charged in Cherokee County with possession of a controlled substance. He posted a $7,500 bond the next day.
DPS trooper and spokeswoman Sylvia Jennings has said she did not know what prompted the pursuit that ended with Burns' death.
Burns was the 83rd state trooper to die in the line of duty, according to DPS. He is survived by a wife and a 5-month-old daughter.
Funeral for Burns will be at 2 p.m. Saturday at the First Baptist Church in Linden, with burial at Shiloh Cemetery, nine miles south of Linden. Visitation will be at 6 p.m. Friday at the church.
Linden is 140 miles east of Dallas.