Shootout leaves Missouri sheriff, deputy wounded

SALEM, Mo. -- A shootout on Monday wounded the Dent County sheriff and his chief deputy as they were investigating an earlier shooting that left two dead, the Missouri State Highway Patrol said.

Two other unidentified people were also wounded.

Chief deputy Joann Barnes and a unidentified woman were taken to a hospital in St. Louis, said patrol Sgt. Gene DeSalme. Their conditions were not immediately known.

Sheriff Bob Wofford and an unidentified man were treated for minor wounds at Salem Memorial Hospital. The sheriff was released and headed for St. Louis to check on his deputy, Gray said. The man was in custody.

Wofford and Barnes had responded to a late-morning report of a shooting at a residence west of Salem. Officers found the bodies of an unidentified man and woman at the residence, DeSalme said.

The sheriff, the chief deputy and Salem police officers arrived at a second residence and "shots were fired from inside," DeSalme said. Wofford and Barnes were hit, and the Salem officers returned fire, the patrol spokesman said.

The unidentified man and woman were taken into custody at the second residence, DeSalme and Gray said.