LUDINGTON, Mich., Sept. 10 (UPI) -- Michigan State Police Trooper Paul Butterfield was shot in the head and killed Monday during a traffic stop in Mason County, police said.
Police Lt. Mike Shaw told WXYZ-TV, Detroit, Butterfield was shot by one of the suspects in the vehicle. A passerby found Butterfield on the ground a couple minutes after the shooting, the TV station said. He was airlifted to Munson Hospital and died during emergency surgery.
"Tonight we lost a hero," Col. Kriste Kibbey Etue, director of the Michigan State Police, said in a statement. "The entire MSP family, as well as our greater law enforcement family, mourns alongside the Butterfields. Trooper Butterfield's sacrifice will never be forgotten; may he rest in peace."
Two suspects, a man and a woman, were taken into custody after a brief shootout at a nearby convenience store. The male suspect sustained a non-life-threatening gunshot wound and was treated at a local hospital.
Butterfield joined the force in 1999 and also served in the U.S. Army.
