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Chase by Kansas Highway Patrol trooper ends in death of shooting suspect

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EL DORADO, Kan. — Authorities say a woman who was fatally injured in a crash while being chased by the Kansas Highway Patrol on Wednesday had just fled the scene of a shooting.

The Butler County Sheriff’s Office said deputies responded to the shooting between El Dorado and Shumway around 10:30 a.m. The shooting victim was taken to a Wichita hospital with critical injuries.

The patrol said a trooper soon spotted the suspect's pickup and a brief pursuit ensued. Trooper Chad Crittenden said the officer performed a maneuver using his vehicle to try to force the pickup to spin out and stop. The pickup then hit a sign in a business parking lot in the Wichita suburb of Bel Aire. The driver, a woman in her 60s, died at the scene. Her name has not been released.

Crittenden told reporters that the trooper tried to force the stop because the woman was a suspect in a shooting and was getting ready to travel into a highly populated part of northern Wichita. He said he didn't know her hometown.

Details on the shooting in Butler County were not immediately released.

The patrol is investigating the crash, while the Butler County Sheriff’s Office is investigating the shooting.

For jurisdictions that utilize the Greater Kansas City Crime Stoppers Tips Hotline, anonymous tips can be made by calling 816-474-TIPS (8477), submitting the tip online or through the free mobile app at P3Tips.com.

Annual homicide details and data for the Kansas City area are available through the KSHB 41 News Homicide Tracker, which was launched in 2015. Read the KSHB 41 News Mug Shot Policy.