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Last updated on Friday, March 2, 2012
(ANDERSON CO. TN.) - A Bedford woman and a Linton man who were killed in shootout with Tennessee police have criminal history. (WATE TV)
The two were in a stolen pickup truck, and after a police chase, and shooting - both were killed Wednesday.
Police have not released the names of the two, but do say they both are well know by law enforcement officers and both have criminal histories.
The truck, which had an Indiana tag, was reported stolen earlier Wednesday. The Greene County Daily World reports that Linton police reported that the truck was apparently stolen from the Linton Vet Clinic on Tuesday.
LPD Det. Duane Collenbaugh answered a call from the clinic that stated that one of their trucks - a 2003 tan-colored Ford F250 extended cab pickup - had been stolen sometime between 12:30 and 1:30 p.m.
Veterinarian Roy Whitman told police that he drove the truck to pick up lunch and later in the afternoon couldn't find his truck.
The truck was unlocked with the keys in it, Collenbaugh reported.
Whitman told police inside the truck was a Ruger .22 caliber pistol in the console and a shotgun lying in the backseat.
In the truck bed was a storage unit that contained drugs and syringes used for animals.
Collenbaugh noted that the truck was entered into a national computer network as stolen.
On Wednesday, LPD was contacted by Tennessee police that the vehicle's driver had stolen some gasoline at a service station near Knoxville, Tenn. Police indicated that the license plates on the truck had been changed.
Collenbaugh stated that Tennessee authorities told him that the truck got stuck on a country road in Anderson County. A farmer helped pulled them out, but became suspicious and contacted police.
Lake City police got a call at 10:42 a.m. about a gas drive off worth $146 from Pilot on N. Main Street. When an officer arrived the truck had already left, going south on Interstate 75.
Lake City police told the Anderson County Sheriff's Office about the truck. Officers spent the next two hours looking for the suspects.
A sheriff's officer spotted the truck later that afternoon and tried to pull it over, on Raccoon Valley Road. The driver fled leading police on a seven-mile chase. Someone in the truck then began firing at officers. Deputies did not return fire.
The officer chased the suspects along Raccoon Valley Road, and another off-duty officer joined the pursuit.
The chase continued and finally the truck ran off the road into a parking lot of the Claxton Volunteer Fire Department. The truck hit a pole and blew out the right front tire, causing the driver to lose control of the vehicle.
According to Sheriff Paul White the driver ran into a field and opened fire. Both deputies returned fire.
The Bedford woman was killed at the scene. The Linton man died later at University of Tennessee Medical Center in Knoxville.
The officers are on paid leave, which is standard procedure for a shooting they are involved in.
The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation is investigating the shooting.
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