Arizona police kill escapee

KINGMAN, Ariz. — One of two inmates who overpowered a corrections officer and escaped from a Mohave County jail annex Saturday was killed in a shootout with authorities in Lake Havasu City on Tuesday.

Bullhead City police are reviewing the shooting.

Bullhead City Police spokesman Steve Johnson said Mohave County sheriff’s Sgt. Doug Schuster and deputy Quint Oller were acting on a tip when they went to look for escapees Steven Wusstig, 34, and Raymond Coleman, 40, at a home in the 2400 block of Huntington Drive in Lake Havasu. Johnson said Schuster was searching outside the house when gunshots were fired from behind a bush.

“Schuster returned fire, and both he and Deputy Oller then moved away and took cover,” Johnson said. “When they noticed there was no further movement from the bush, they approached the subject and discovered that he was deceased.”

The gunman was identified as Wusstig. Police found a handgun with the body, Johnson said.

Coleman was not seen during the incident. Johnson said it is unclear whether Coleman had been at the residence before or near the time of the shooting.

Mohave County Sheriff Tom Sheahan said the hunt for Coleman continues, and police also are investigating whether others helped the two prisoners escape.

Investigators suspect a getaway vehicle had been parked at the jail annex before the escape.

Schuster has been placed on paid administrative leave pending the outcome of the investigation into the shooting. Sheahan said he believes the officers acted appropriately.

“They did what they needed to do,” Sheahan said.

Wusstig was awaiting trial on theft and drug charges. Coleman had been jailed since 2006 for failing to appear on burglary charges, according to the Mohave County Sheriff’s Office.