.COLUMBIA, Mo. (AP) - Officers involved in the death of a man in January in Columbia have been cleared of any wrongdoing.
Callaway County Prosecuting Attorney Chris Wilson this month says the man, 35-year-old Troy Bateman, died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound while sitting in the back of a car that had been stopped by police in Columbia on Jan. 18.
The Columbia Daily Tribune reports officers from Boone County and Columbia police fired at the car after hearing the gunshot and it wasn't clear at the time who fired the fatal shot.
Wilson said evidence clearly indicates none of the three gunshots fired by officers hit Bateman, who was suspected of firing a gun at a Missouri State Highway Patrol trooper in Saline County while fleeing a traffic stop on Jan. 13.