BULLET FIRED PAST HEAD OF SCOTT CITY POLICEMAN

SCOTT CITY -- Policeman David Leeman moved a bit stiffly Monday, but at least he was moving.

The day before he came within a split second of being shot in the head by a .357-caliber Magnum.

"We just have him filling out reports today," said Scott City Police Chief Danny Clubb.

Charged in connection with the incident was Russell Underwood, 40, of Scott City. Underwood, who faces charges of assaulting a police officer and armed criminal action, was being held Monday night in the Scott City Jail in lieu of $750,000 bond.

The life-threatening incident began when Leeman responded to a domestic disturbance call reported at 5:57 p.m. Sunday.

When Leeman arrived at a residence in the 600 block of Lincoln Street, a woman was standing outside of the house on the back porch, police said. A second officer was driving to the scene but had not yet arrived. Leeman decided not to wait.

He went up the porch stairs to where the woman stood. As Leeman came within eight feet of her, a man emerged from the house, grabbed the woman and pulled her back inside. The officer charged forward.

He was met suddenly at the door threshold by the man, who pushed the barrel of his handgun into Leeman's temple and grabbed him by the shoulder.

Pushing Leeman back onto the porch and against the side of the house, the man began swearing at the police officer, threatening to kill him.

Leeman had his hands in the air, telling the man not to do anything he would regret. The officer could feel the porch railing behind him. While he continued talking to the man, trying to calm him, Leeman tested the railing.

The man hollered, "Are you ready to die? Here it comes." Leeman pushed back against the railing. It gave way and he fell five feet to the ground.

Leeman said he was surprised that the railing broke since the porch appeared fairly new.

"It wasn't just my strength that broke that railing," he said. "I'm thanking the Lord."

In the same moment that Leeman fell, the man pulled the trigger.

Leeman hit the ground and pulled out his handgun. The man was still standing on the porch above him, but the woman was standing too close for Leeman to fire a shot safely, he said. The officer rolled underneath the deck, and the man and woman retreated back into the house.

By then police officer Chris Griggs had arrived.

The man had left the gun inside the house and attempted to escape through the front door. He was tackled in the front yard by Griggs and Leeman. A deputy from the Scott County Sheriff's Department also assisted.

The man resisted arrest and told police "Shoot me now" and that he wanted to be killed by a police officer, Leeman said.

Police forcefully restrained the man, Clubb said.

Leeman was treated Sunday at a hospital for a sprained neck, pulled back muscles and bruises. He was released the same day.

Domestic disturbance calls are one of the most dangerous for police, said Cape Girardeau police Sgt. Carl Kinnison, a Southeast Missouri Law Enforcement Academy instructor who teaches trainees how to handle domestic disturbances. "As a police officer you're going into a situation where the level of rage is high, and it might be influenced by drugs or alcohol," Kinnison said.

Responses to domestic quarrels create the most likely situations for police to be assaulted, according to a 10-year study by the FBI.

Underwood escaped from the Scott City Jail in 1988, not long after it was constructed, Clubb said.

After being arrested for driving while intoxicated on May 15, 1988, Underwood was taken back to the police station, where he threw the contents of his pockets in the arresting officer's face. As the only prisoner at the time, Underwood was locked in the jail's "bullpen" area in front of the individual, unlocked cells, said former police chief David Beck. Underwood, a weightlifter, made his escape by pushing out a row of concrete blocks near the ceiling, police said. Underwood caused $3,000 in damages.

"That happened before construction on the jail was finished," Clubb said.