Deputy marshal dies from gun battle

ST. LOUIS – A deputy federal marshal who was shot in the head Tuesday during a gun battle with a man they were trying to arrest died of his wounds hours later, the U.S. Marshals Service said.

John Perry, 48, died at Saint Louis University Hospital at 7 p.m. – 12 hours after he and two other law enforcement officers were shot by the 35-year-old man wanted on drug possession and assault charges. The suspect was also killed.

Another deputy marshal – 31-year-old Theodore Abegg, a three-year veteran – was shot in an ankle, while a bullet grazed an unidentified police officer’s face.

Perry was accompanying police as they to arrest Carlos Boles at a home on the city’s south side. Boles was wanted on a Missouri warrant charging him with assaulting a law enforcement officer and possession of a controlled substance.

The police department said it requested backup from the U.S. Marshals Service because of a tip that Boles might be a threat.

When the law enforcement officers arrived at Boles’ home, they discovered there were children inside, according a police account of the incident. After the children were escorted outside, the officers entered and began a floor-by-floor search for Boles. When they spotted him on the second floor, Boles started shooting, police said.

Sannita Vaughn, who identified herself as Boles’ sister, told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch that her three children – ages 8, 13 and 15 – were staying with her brother and his girlfriend at the home.