Highway Patrol says it has caught murder suspect Ian McCarthy

Will Schmitt
Springfield News-Leader

CLINTON — Authorities say they have captured a man suspected of killing a Clinton police officer after a manhunt that lasted nearly two days.

Police swarm the town of Chilhowee, Mo., about 20 miles northwest of the city of Clinton, as they search for Ian McCarthy, 39, the man police believe to have shot and killed a police officer in Clinton on Sunday night.

Ian J. McCarthy, 39, was arrested late Tuesday. He was walking along a highway outside the Clinton city limits when authorities found him, according to the Missouri State Highway Patrol. 

McCarthy allegedly shot and killed Officer Gary Michael, 37, after a traffic stop Sunday night. McCarthy has been on the run since.

It appeared authorities were closing in on their suspect Tuesday afternoon before it turned out they were following a false lead.

Checkpoints in and out of the town of Chilhowee were set up for several hours during the day.

According to Sgt. Bill Lowe of the Highway Patrol, a tip came in that McCarthy had fled on foot to Chilhowee, a town of about 325 people about 20 miles northwest of Clinton.

"I don't know how close he was to this proximity other than we received the information that he was in fact here. The fact is he wasn't," Lowe said.

McCarthy has been charged with first-degree murder for allegedly killing Michael, who pulled him over after McCarthy went to a Clinton convenience store to buy cigar wrappers. 

The incident is described in a probable cause statement which said McCarthy fled from the scene of the shooting and crashed his Dodge Nitro SUV a few blocks away on an embankment. The embankment was a couple of blocks away from the McCarthy’s home, where police then staged a standoff, neighbors say.

A next-door neighbor said McCarthy had rented the small white home on West Gravel Street for four years and did not have a job.

Ian McCarthy, 39, of Clinton. The Missouri State Highway Patrol was searching for him Monday, Aug. 7, 2017, in connection with the fatal shooting of a Clinton police officer.

For hours, police surrounded the home, using a loudspeaker to ask him to peacefully leave, a neighbor said, but McCarthy wasn’t home.

Local police, sheriff’s deputies, and troopers have been searching for him ever since.

According to Lowe of the highway patrol, authorities are working to learn more about McCarthy’s background and tendencies.

Before living in Clinton, McCarthy apparently lived in New Hampshire, where he has several criminal convictions, including stabbing a child.

Scott Miller, the man whose trailer was surrounded by authorities Tuesday, said he has nothing to do with McCarthy or this “nightmare.”

Miller told the News-Leader he had gone to the hospital because he had cut his hand on a broken mirror and when he came back his trailer was surrounded by the highway patrol. Miller said he was kept about two blocks away while police tried to catch the man who wasn’t there.

“I had 7-foot-tall state troopers with pistols; I was surrounded by them,” he said. “I was really paranoid. I was worried about my dogs.”

Gov. Eric Greitens’ issued a statement Tuesday evening regarding the capture of McCarthy.

“The Highway Patrol has apprehended the suspect in the shooting of Clinton Police Officer Gary Michaels. We are all grateful for and proud of the law enforcement officers who conducted this operation. Justice will be done. Our hearts still hang heavy this evening. Officer Michaels’ family and his department still grieve, and the entire state of Missouri joins them in their grief. Sheena and I will pray tonight for all who knew Officer Michaels and for the memory of his life and service. Tonight, we will remember the words of Isaiah, ‘Those who walk uprightly enter into peace; they find rest as they lie in death.’”

Read more:

Suspect in Clinton cop-killing stabbed a New Hampshire child years ago, court documents say

Neighbors describe suspect in Clinton manhunt as 'a hermit'