RICHWOODS, Mo. – A request to remove a trespasser from a parking lot ended with Washington County sheriff’s deputies shooting and killing a man after he used a truck to pin a deputy against another vehicle.
According to Washington County Sheriff Zach Jacobsen, the shooting took place just after 10:45 p.m. Tuesday at Roy’s Convenience Store, just outside Richwoods, Missouri.
Deputies met with a store employee, who told them a man parked in a pickup truck was trespassing on the property.
Sheriff Jacobsen said deputies spoke with the man in the truck, who gave them a false name and other incorrect information. The store employee told deputies he wanted the man off the property.
Deputies spoke with the man in the truck again and asked that he step out of the vehicle. The sheriff said the man refused, started the truck, and put the vehicle in drive. One of the deputies attempted to put the truck back into park but was unsuccessful.
The man sped forward with the deputy hanging out of the truck, Jacobsen said. He struck a deputy’s vehicle, pinning the deputy between it and the truck.
The sheriff said the other deputies then opened fire on the man in the truck, which then struck a second law enforcement vehicle.
The man in the truck, later identified as David M. Peter, was pronounced dead at the scene. He was 36.
The deputy who was pinned was taken to a local hospital to be treated, Jacobsen said. His injuries were not life-threatening.
Sheriff Jacobsen said he requested the Missouri State Highway Patrol’s Division of Drug and Crime Control conduct a use of force investigation.
