A Missouri man who was fatally shot during a traffic stop was accused of exchanging gunfire with a state trooper days earlier.
The Missouri State Highway Patrol identified the man killed Wednesday as 35-year-old Troy Bateman, of Marshall. Investigators are trying to determine whether officers shot the man or if he suffered a self-inflicted gunshot wound. An autopsy is being conducted.
The patrol says 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 patrol says Bateman was suspected of exchanging gunfire Friday with a state trooper in Saline County, though the trooper wasn't hit. Bateman also was being sought on a parole violation stemming from a burglary case.
