A suspect in the murder of Colorado Department of Corrections executive director Tom Clements was shot and killed Thursday after trading gunfire with Texas police.
Evan Spencer Ebel, 28, was driving a black Cadillac with Colorado license plates matching the description of the car seen near Clements home on the day of the shooting, and was stopped by police at about 11 a.m. Thursday.
Ebel shot Sheriff’s Deputy James Boyd before speeding off into Wise County. The suspect eventually crashed the car into an 18-wheeler, and began shooting at police officers with a handgun when he escaped the wreck. He was eventually shot in the head by law enforcement
“He didn’t look like he wanted to be caught or taken alive,” Police Chief Rex Hoskins of Decatur, Tex. said at a news conference. Boyd was shot twice in his bulletproof vest, and is expected to make a full recovery. No other officers were injured by Ebel during the shootout.
CBS Denver reported that Ebel was on life support, but died when life support was removed. Ebel was a parolee from the Denver area, and a confirmed member of the Brotherhood of Aryan Alliance prison gang. He has now been linked to several killings, including that of Clements and Denver area pizza delivery worker Nathan Leon.
Leon was shot several times after leaving his Domino’s job on March 17, and CBS reports that a Domino’s shirt was found in the back of Ebel’s vehicle. Clements was killed two days later. Though police have not specified any direct evidence linking Ebel to Clements’ death, the Denver Police Department tweeted that investigators were being sent to Texas to assist with the case, citing “a strong connection” between the Texas incident and the cases in Denver.
