Patrol: Man who died after traffic stop shot himself

 

COLUMBIA (AP) - A Missouri man who died of a gunshot wound during a traffic stop in Columbia was accused of exchanging gunfire with a state trooper days earlier.

The Missouri Highway Patrol identified the man killed Wednesday as 35-year-old Troy Bateman, of Marshall. Patrol spokesman Sgt. Collin Strosberg said Thursday an autopsy determined Bateman died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

The patrol said the confrontation began when Columbia police pulled over a car. Two women got out of the vehicle, and police fired at the car after they heard a gunshot. The officers weren't hurt.

The patrol said Bateman was suspected of exchanging gunfire Friday with a state trooper in Saline County. The trooper wasn't hit. Bateman also was being sought on a parole violation stemming from a burglary case.