Vandalia native killed in the line of duty

By Editor | August 17, 2011 |

A Vandalia native who was serving as a police officer in Missouri was killed in the line of duty early Tuesday morning.

Evan Burns, 28, was among the law enforcement officers in Pemiscot County attempting to apprehend an individual in a stolen vehicle, and he sustained fatal injuries when his squad car was rammed by that vehicle. Burns was a police officer for Caruthersville.
According to a release from the Pemiscot County Sheriff’s Office obtained by KFVS TV in Cape Girardeau, Mo., county deputies spotted a 2002 Cadillac Escalade that had been reported stolen.
Deputies tried to pull the vehicle over on Interstate 55, but the driver wouldn’t stop.
After the driver exited onto state Highway 84, Burns and fellow Caruthersville officer Richard Altice stopped to set up spike strips.
When alerted that the vehicle had stopped, they did not deploy the spike strips. When the suspect took off again, they attempted to block the highway with their squad cars.
According to the report, the Escalade hit Altice’s car, then rammed broadside into Burns’s car.
Burns had been with the Caruthersville Police Department for two years. His survivors include a 1-year-old son.
The driver of the stolen vehicle, Deonta Jamarr Williams, 29, of O’Fallon, Mo., has been charged with first-degree murder, armed criminal action, first-degree assault, tampering with a motor vehicle and resisting arrest by fleeing.
Officer Burns's obituary appears on page 3 of today's issue.