More information released in Poplar Bluff officer-involved shooting

POPLAR BLUFF, Mo. -- A Doniphan, Missouri, man suspected of stabbing someone multiple times Friday was fatally shot by a Poplar Bluff police officer when confronted inside a downtown apartment building and allegedly charging at them while still holding the knife.

At 11:55 a.m. Friday, the Poplar Bluff Police Department received a call about a stabbing, which had occurred at an apartment building in the 800 block of Lester Street.

Police patrol officers, along with detectives and Rural/Metro Ambulance Service personnel, responded.

The stabbing victim, who suffered multiple stab wounds, was flown by helicopter from Poplar Bluff Municipal Airport to Saint Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau.

Missouri State Highway Patrol Cpl. Clark Parrott said the victim is a 50-year-old man whose name is not being released.

While on the scene, Parrott said in a news release, officers were able to gather information leading to a potential suspect and his possible location.

"As a result, officers responded to an apartment building at 201 S. Broadway," Parrott said. The apartment building is directly across the street from the downtown parking garage and next door to the Bears Lodge No. 299.

"As officers entered the common hallway of the building, they were confronted by a subject with a knife," Parrott said. "Officers ordered the subject to drop the knife. He did not comply and charged at officers still holding the knife. A Poplar Bluff officer fired his weapon at the subject, fatally injuring him."

Parrott said two officers were inside the upstairs hallway when one, whose name is not being released, fired his weapon.

The deceased, Parrott said, is identified as Thurrell M. Jowers, 22, whose last known address is Doniphan.

"He had no identification on him, [but] we did get a positive ID on him through fingerprints," said Parrott, who indicated he did not know how many shots were fired or how many times Jowers may have been struck.

At the request of the Poplar Bluff Police Department and the Butler County coroner, the Missouri State Highway Patrol and its Division of Drug and Crime Control were called in to investigate the shooting.

An autopsy was scheduled for Monday morning at Mineral Area Regional Medical Center, Parrott said. It is unclear what precipitated the stabbing or how the two men knew each other.

Pertinent address:

Poplar Bluff, Mo.