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YALE, Va. (AP) — Authorities fatally shot a man who led troopers on a pursuit on a Virginia interstate as someone in the vehicle fired a gun, police said Wednesday.
A trooper traveling on Interstate 95 on Wednesday morning spotted a vehicle that had been reported stolen in Connecticut and tried to stop it, Virginia State Police said in a news release. The driver refused to stop and sped away. During a pursuit, police said someone inside the vehicle started firing at the trooper's vehicle and sporadic shooting continued.
After the vehicle left the interstate, troopers positioned themselves to stop the vehicle and police said the gunman continued firing at police vehicles. One shot pierced a K9 trooper's window, fatally striking a police dog in the back compartment.
Once the vehicle was stopped, police said troopers engaged the gunman and "shots were fired."
The driver died at the scene and a female passenger was taken to a hospital with injuries that aren't thought to be life-threatening. The driver's body will be transported to the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner in Richmond for examination and autopsy, police said.
New Haven, Connecticut, police say detectives traveled to Virginia because the man may be a suspect in a slaying there. Virginia State Police spokeswoman Sgt. Michelle Anaya said at a news conference Wednesday afternoon that police can't yet make a positive identification of the man who was killed.
No troopers were hurt, but three troopers are on routine administrative leave. The police K-9 died and Anaya said people on the scene saluted as the dog was placed in a kennel to be taken to a veterinary hospital.
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