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Officer justified in killing Glasgow shooter

GLASGOW (AP)

A coroner's inquest determined Tuesday that a federal agent was justified in shooting and killing a man who opened fire at a Glasgow hospital. Authorities say 42-year-old Roger Sellers killed a woman and wounded two others in a sniper-style shooting earlier Jan. 17 outside the Frances Mahon Deaconess Hospital. Fergus County Coroner Dick Brown opened the inquest Tuesday, and a jury fo u n d t h a t Bu r e a u o f La n d Management Ranger Alexandra Burke was justified in killing Sellers after he charged at officers with a knife. Melissa Greenhagen, a 37-year-old emergency medical technician and Valley County District Court clerk, was killed in the shootings. Suzanne Billingsley, a nurse, and her husband, Scott, were injured. The triple shoot ing shocked Glasgow's largely agricultural community of 3,500 people near the Canadian border. A homicide had not taken place in the town in more than 15 years. Scott Billingsley testified Tuesday that he shot at Sellers shortly after Sellers shot Greenhagen, KFBB-TV in Great Falls reported. Assistant Valley County Attorney Dave Gordon told jurors that Sellers' autopsy indicates he was shot once in the left rib when officers first tried to apprehend him near the hospital. Sellers escaped on foot and local, State and federal authorities followed a trail of blood to a property just outside Glasgow. Deputy County Attorney Dave Gordon said Burke then shot Sellers with a shotgun. Glasgow Police Chief Bruce Barstad said Sellers, who has been described by community members as a "recluse," halted contact with family and friends after his ex-wife married Sellers' brother, Great Falls station KRTV reported. Sellers and his wi fe had married i n Germany, but the coupl e divorced after returning to his home state of Utah.

 

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