Fugitive shot and killed after turning gun on police

AP, July 13, 2003

A fugitive who slipped away from his home during a deadly standoff early last week was shot and killed by police Sunday morning, officials said. State police say they'll talk more about what happened and about the search for Woodring at a press conference scheduled for later this afternoon. 24 Hour News 8 will continue to follow the story as the investigation continues into the past week's events.

Scott Allen Woodring, who was described by relatives as having strong anti-government views, had been charged with killing Michigan State Police Trooper Kevin Marshall during the 40-hour
standoff.

About 5 a.m. Sunday, state police received a tip that Woodring was in a vehicle behind a house about four miles southwest of his Newaygo County home.

An eight-member state police emergency services team found Woodring and ordered him to remain inside the vehicle, but he emerged with an assault rifle and turned toward the officers, state
police Inspector Barry Getzen said.

Woodring was shot by officers and pronounced dead at the scene, Getzen said at a Sunday afternoon news conference outside the Fremont Police Department.

Police would not say how many times officers fired at Woodring or how many times he was hit. They also would not identify the owner of the property where he was found.

Woodring, 40, barricaded himself in his Dayton Township home, just outside of Fremont, on July 6 when officers tried to serve him with a felony arrest warrant. Woodring was accused of soliciting
sex from a female minor at a Hesperia gas station on July 1.

Marshall was shot four times as he and other state troopers trying to end the standoff stormed Woodring's home July 7. Marshall, a 33-year-old married father of two, died in surgery later that day.

Police all but ruled out the possibility that Marshall could have been shot by another officer. The bullets that struck him were fired by a weapon of smaller caliber than those issued to state police, Getzen has said.

Woodring vanished sometime between July 7, when the team stormed the house, and the afternoon of July 8, when fire destroyed the ranch-style home shortly after police shot a percussion device into the structure.

Investigators received more than 200 tips from the public as they searched for Woodring, but considered significant one sighting that put the man on foot near the White River in Lincoln Township.

Family members say Woodring was deeply religious but held strong anti-government and anti-authority views. Woodring's sister Debbie DeVisser of Mount Pleasant did not immediately return a message seeking comment on his death.

Officials who scoured the charred remains of Woodring's home turned up a cache of weapons, thousands of rounds of ammunition, a food stockpile estimated to last several months and more than 200 pounds of silver coins. They also found backpacks packed with food, clothing, foil blankets and in one case, a gas mask, Getzen said. Several other weapons registered to Woodring were missing.

Tom Wayne, former chief of staff and executive officer of the Michigan Militia Corps Wolverines, said Woodring was active in Wayne's group until the mid-1990s, when they parted ways over
ideological differences.

"He started getting more and more into the Christian Identity movement," said Wayne, who said the militia is largely inactive now.

The Christian Identity movement espouses racist, sexist, anti-Semitic and homophobic beliefs.

Some Newaygo County residents expressed relief that the search for Woodring had ended. But they noted the tragedy of the situation.

Perry DeKryger, 57, who lives on a 30-acre farm less a quarter-mile from Woodring's burned home, said Sunday after learning of his neighbor's death he was constantly concerned that someone could be lurking around the property or in his barn.

His nephew's children, who live on an adjacent lot, had crafted signs in support of police and their efforts to catch Woodring.

"It's just a tragic situation for the trooper and his family and the Woodring family," DeKryger said.

Larry Mansfield Sr., 48, said he knew Woodring in passing and often saw him around Fremont. Although he described Woodring as always in a good mood, Mansfield said he was concerned that police catch the fugitive.

"I was concerned about it 24-7," said Mansfield, who lives with his 14-year-old son in a Fremont apartment.

"I just more or less stayed around at home as much as I could this week," he said, adding, "I was really hoping for a peaceful ending to this."