MORGANTOWN, W.Va. . — A suspect wanted in the shooting of a police officer is dead in Morgantown.
A task force led by the U.S. Marshal Service in northern West Virginia along with members of a fugitive task force which included officers from the Morgantown Police Department were involved in the incident at a residence near the West Virginia University Campus Wednesday afternoon.
“The United State’s Marshal Service, Northern District of West Virginia, was involved in a line of duty fatal shooting today at approximately 12:15 p.m.,” said Alex Neville, Chief Deputy U.S. Marshal for Northern West Virginia. “Deputy U.S. Marshals and task force officers were attempting to arrest a suspect wanted for the attempted murder of a police officer.”
According to a release from the Morgantown Police Department, “The suspected fugitive attempted to flee from the Marshals and was armed with a handgun. During a foot pursuit, the suspect fired the handgun and at least one member of the U.S. Marshals Service returned fire. The suspect was found deceased at the scene.”
Neville would not confirm if the dead suspect was Donquale Gray, pending notification of relatives. However the information which led authorities to the Morgantown residence in the vicinity of College Avenue and Falling Run Road came from the same region where Gray is alleged to have shot a police officer last month..
“A fugitive investigation was referred to the U.S. Marshal Service in the western district of Virginia,” Neville told Metronews. “Leads were eventually developed which were forwarded to Northern West Virginia for us to make endeavors to arrest the suspect.”
Gray, who is from Bluefield, West Virginia, had been the subject of a nationwide manhunt since the February 16th shooting of a police officer during a traffic stop in Bluefield, Virginia.
No law enforcement officers were injured in the Wednesday incident.
The Morgantown Police Department is leading the investigation into the shooting and Neville indicated there would be an internal review by the U.S. Marshal Service upon completion of the initial probe by the Morganntown Police.