Montana cop killed on roadside; suspect dead

HELENA, Mont. — Police are trying to piece together what led a dog trainer to shoot and kill a state trooper along a roadside in southwestern Montana, prompting a manhunt that ended with the suspect found dead in his truck.

Highway Patrol officer David DeLaittre, 23, who was found dead of a gunshot wound in his vehicle on Wednesday afternoon.Police later found the shooter, Errol Brent Bouldin, 56, dead in his 1999 green Ford F250 pickup truck.

Still unknown is what led to the encounter between Bouldin and DeLaittre off Montana Highway 2 just outside of Three Forks, where the Gallatin, Jefferson and Madison rivers converge to form the Missouri River.

Gallatin County Sheriff James Cashell said police also don't know yet how Bouldin died, whether he took his own life and what weapon or weapons were used to kill DeLaittre and himself.

The Bozeman Daily Chronicle reported that Highway Patrol officer David DeLaittre was from Three Forks, where his parents and two sisters live.

He was sworn in as a trooper in November 2008. Initially stationed in Chinook, he was then transferred to Bozeman in April 2010, Department of Justice spokeswoman Judy Beck said.

Seven other Montana Highway Patrol officers have died in the line of duty, two by shooting, according to the Association of Montana Troopers.

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