Franklin County man long at odds with police shot by troopers

ST. CLAIR, Mo. -- An eastern Missouri man with a history of anti-police commentary was hospitalized in critical condition Wednesday after he was shot by troopers from the Missouri State Highway Patrol.

The shooting happened Tuesday near St. Clair after two highway patrol troopers arranged to meet Jeffrey Weinhaus, 46, of Franklin County. The troopers had a warrant to arrest Weinhaus on two counts of possession of a controlled substance and one count of tampering with a judicial officer.

The troopers with the patrol's drug and crime division had arranged to meet Weinhaus at a gas station outside St. Clair, a town of about 4,700 residents about 50 miles southwest of St. Louis.

Weinhaus was shot when he reached for a gun, Sgt. Al Nothum told The St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Nothum said Weinhaus was struck at least twice, and that he was not able to fire at the officers. Both officers have been placed on administrative leave while the shooting is investigated, Nothum said.

Weinhaus, also known as Bulletinman, has a YouTube channel on which he has called for the forceful overthrow of local officials. He often has railed against police, lawyers and judges in a newsletter, on a website and in YouTube videos.

Last month Weinhaus posted a YouTube video calling for the overthrow of local government officials if they didn't step down by Sept. 17.

"What I've been trying to lay down over the last 16 years is my right to go in there and blast you [expletive] out of there if we have to," he said. "You're going down one way or another."

In a video posted Sunday, Weinhaus said he was "totally out of my mind, totally clinically insane" after his third wife had kicked him out of their home.