Police seek St. Louis-area cop killer

UNIVERSITY CITY, Mo., Nov. 2 (UPI) -- A 41-year-old man suspected of shooting a St. Louis-area police officer to death was being sought Sunday, officials said.

Investigators allege the man, a convicted drug dealer, walked up to Sgt. Michael King of the University City, Mo., police department as he sat in a parked squad car Saturday night and shot him to death, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported.

The suspect allegedly then jumped into a nearby car and led police on a high-speed chase. The suspect was described as driving a light-colored, four-door 1993 Oldsmobile Cutlass with Missouri license plate 2AB 28J.

Meanwhile, in an unrelated case, officials in Schaumburg, Ill., said Officer Frank Russo died Saturday while trying to apprehend a suspect, the Chicago Sun-Times reported. Russo was the first police officer in the history of the Chicago suburb to die in the line of duty, the newspaper said.

Officials said Russo collapsed and died after chasing and struggling with a man thought to have caused a disturbance at a bar. The Cook County medical examiner told the newspaper he died of hypertensive cardiovascular disease.