Alleged central Ill. officer shooter dead after chase, shootout

POPE COUNTY, Ill. (WLS) -- An active manhunt has ended Sunday for Dracy "Clint" Pendleton who police say shot an FBI agent a week after he allegedly shot a police officer near Champaign May 7.

Police say they saw the suspect running from a cemetery early Sunday, and authorities gave chase to a home, where they exchanged gunfire. Pendleton was then found on the second floor of the home and pronounced dead.

An FBI agent was shot during the shootout. He is expected to survive.

Pendleton is accused of stealing a car and then hiding out in the woods in southern Illinois.

The Lusk Creek Wilderness area in the Shawnee National Forest was closed all last week and Sunday during the search for Pendleton.

At 12:09 a.m. Sunday, Pendleton was spotted by Illinois State Police at a church cemetery with a rifle and another weapon. Police say he ran from law enforcement into the woods and was tracked to an abandoned home.

At 5 a.m., he was located in that abandoned home, he opened fire on law enforcement, and there was an exchange of gunfire, police said.

Investigators had been searching for Pendleton after he allegedly started fighting shortly after a traffic stop late on May 7. Police say he pulled out a gun, shot an officer and then ran into his house, from which he returned with a rifle and continued to fire. He then took off in a pickup truck, according to officials. The officer suffered non-life-threatening injuries. Pendleton was also injured at that time.

The Mahomet police officer had stopped Pendleton around 10:45 p.m. May 7 for a traffic violation in front of his home. During the stop, police say a physical altercation occurred where the Mahomet officer attempted to Tase Pendleton. Pendleton pulled a handgun, shooting the Mahomet officer in the right arm, police say.

Pendleton fled the scene in his truck to a local rock quarry, police said. Pendleton then got keys and stole one of the quarry's company trucks and fled to southern Illinois, police said.

Authorities had reason to believe that because Pendleton lived in Pope County in 2012, he may have fled there after the showdown with the officer in Mahomet.