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  3. Suspect in Montana cop slaying had violent past

Suspect in Montana cop slaying had violent past

A crowd of mainly Yellowstone County Courthouse employees lines up along North 27th Street as a motorcade passes carrying the body of Broadwater County Sheriff's Deputy Mason Moore to the State Medical Examiner's office, Tuesday, May 16, 2017 in Billings, Mont. Moore, a sheriff's deputy was killed early Tuesday in a shootout that prompted a middle-of-the-night pursuit that spanned more than 100 miles (161 kilometers) across southwestern Montana, involving several law enforcement agencies.(Casey Page/The Billings Gazette via AP)
A crowd of mainly Yellowstone County Courthouse employees lines up along North 27th Street as a motorcade passes carrying the body of Broadwater County Sheriff's Deputy Mason Moore to the State Medical Examiner's office, Tuesday, May 16, 2017 in Billings, Mont. Moore, a sheriff's deputy was killed early Tuesday in a shootout that prompted a middle-of-the-night pursuit that spanned more than 100 miles (161 kilometers) across southwestern Montana, involving several law enforcement agencies.(Casey Page/The Billings Gazette via AP)

Bill Morlin of the Southern Poverty Law Center provides this background on the fatal shooting of a Montana sheriff's deputy:

Before he was accused of this week’s fatal shooting of a Montana sheriff’s deputy, an antigovernment extremist was involved in an eerily similar high-speed chase and gunfight with officers in California that included downing a police helicopter.

Lloyd Barrus (pictured in Missoula County Sheriff's Office booking photo) was sentenced to 15 years in prison after pleading guilty to assaulting police officers during the March 17, 2000, standoff that lasted 18 hours and included a 70-mile gunfire chase on the Nevada-California border.

Now, the 61-year-old Barrus, who has lived in Bakersfield, California, faces deliberate homicide and other charges for firing at pursuing police following the   fatal shooting of Broadwater County Sheriff’s Deputy Mason Moore, 42, on Tuesday near Three Forks, Montana. More here.

D.F. Oliveria
D.F. (Dave) Oliveria joined The Spokesman-Review in 1984. He currently is a columnist and compiles the Huckleberries Online blog and writes about North Idaho in his Huckleberries column.

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