Colorado Murder Suspect Shot In Texas Following High-Speed Chase

A Colorado inmate on parole was shot in Texas following a high-speed case Thursday is now suspected of being involved in the murder of Colorado’s Department of Corrections Chief.

Evan Spencer Ebel, 28, was pulled over around 65 miles northwest of Dallas at 11 am Thursday. The New York Times reports that the man opened fire on the police, then sped off heading south at 100 miles per hour.

When officers tried to stop Ebel, he fired out of his car’s window, hitting two police cars. He then slammed into an 18-wheeler, which crushed the Cadillac. Ebel survived the wreck, jumped out of the car, and opened fire on the police until he was shot.

“He didn’t look like he wanted to be caught or taken alive,” Police Chief Rex Hoskins said at a news conference.

As The Inquisitr previously reported, Chief Tom Clements was shot and killed Tuesday night when he answered his front door in Monument, CO, sparking an investigation into why the high-profile official was murdered mere hours before Hickenlooper signed the state’s new gun control legislation into law.

The Associated Press reports that the black Cadillac the suspect drove matched the description of a car spotted outside of the prison chief’s home. Colorado investigators rushed to Texas to determine whether Ebel was involved in Clements’ killing along with other crimes. The shooter’s car bore Colorado license plates.

“We don’t know yet exactly whether this is the guy,” Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper told reporters following the shooting. “There’s some indication. I hope it is.”

Ebel’s record extends back to 2003, the year he was first arrested for committing a robbery. The following year he was charged with two additional robberies, and in 2008, he assaulted a prison guard. He was raised by a single father and had a younger sister who died in a car accident years ago.

The investigation is still ongoing. The Colorado murder suspect was not expected to survive and died later Thursday evening.

[Image via TFoxFoto / Shutterstock.com]