In brief: Census Bureau guard dies from gunshot

An armed man kidnapped a woman, shot and fatally wounded a Census Bureau guard and led police on a car chase through Maryland and Washington, D.C., on Thursday before authorities cornered him in an exchange of gunfire that left the suspect and a police officer wounded.

The guard, identified as Lawrence Buckner, died at a hospital in Cheverly, Maryland, at 7:19 p.m. Thursday, said Prince George’s Hospital Center spokeswoman Erika Murray.

The officer and suspect were both conscious when they were taken for medical care, D.C. police Chief Cathy Lanier told a news conference.

Lanier said a guard at a gate of the U.S. Census Bureau in Suitland, Maryland, saw two people fighting in a car that matched the description of the vehicle described in a report of an armed kidnapping.

When the guard approached the car, the man shot him and took off, crossing the border into the nation’s capital and firing at D.C. police who had begun to chase him, Lanier said.

He fired again at them during the chase before police blocked him and collided with his car. Cornered, the suspect opened fire again and police shot back, wounding both the man and one officer, Lanier said.

Texas executes man for officer’s slaying

HUNTSVILLE, Texas – Texas prison officials on Thursday executed a man convicted in the slaying of a Dallas-area police officer during a 2002 shootout that followed the killing of a customer outside a convenience store.

Kent Sprouse, 42, became the fifth convicted killer put to death this year in Texas.

Before his execution, Sprouse apologized to the families of his victims and his own family “for all the trouble I’ve caused everyone.” Then he thanked his family members for their support.

Sprouse was sentenced to death for the October 2002 killing of 28-year-old Harry Marvin “Marty” Steinfeldt III, a police officer in Ferris, about 20 miles south of Dallas.

Oklahoma may allow nitrogen executions

OKLAHOMA CITY – With U.S. death penalty states scrambling for alternatives to lethal injection amid a shortage of deadly drugs, Oklahoma legislators believe they’ve found a foolproof and humane method: nitrogen gas hypoxia.

Without a single dissenting vote, the Oklahoma Senate gave final legislative approval Thursday and sent the governor a bill that would allow the new method to be used if lethal injection is ruled unconstitutional or if the deadly drugs become unavailable. Republican Gov. Mary Fallin supports the death penalty, but her spokesman declined to comment on the measure Thursday.