A Missouri State Highway Patrol Trooper was at home recovering just hours after he was hit twice by bullets during a shootout in Wright County. Trooper Robert Crewse was shot Wednesday morning during a shootout on a rural road in Mansfield. The man who started the shootout is at a Springfield hospital with critical injuries from several gunshots. Crewse was sent out to check out some suspicious activity on Clouse Road. There he found a man sitting in his car on the side of the street. That man gave Crewse a fake name. The plates on his vehicle belonged to another vehicle.
The man refused to cooperate. That’s when Crewse called for backup. Another trooper and a Mansfield Police officer went out to help Crewse. That’s when authorities say the man started shooting hitting Crewse twice, once on his side. That bullet was stopped by his bullet-proof vest. The other shot grazed his head, putting a hole in his hat. The man who started the shootout was hit multiple times by shots fired by the officers.
The last time a trooper in Troop G was shot was in 2005.
Crewse will remain on paid administrative leave then as part of standard procedure.