Wild Chase and Shootout Ends in Rolla

A gunman led police on a high speed chase down I-44 Thursday, ending in Rolla where he was taken into custody. Authorities say 31-year-old Cody Willcoxson tried to force his way onto the Fort Leonard Wood army base using a fake ID. He was pursued first by military police, then St. Robert police picked up the chase as he led authorities on a 32 mile pursuit, firing shots at them during a rolling gun battle ending on the Missouri University of Science and Technology campus. Rolla Police Chief Mark Kearse said the suspect fired dozens of shots at officers from several departments, reloading as he drove. “He was firing a full auto and changing magazines out the windows and just sticking it out and shooting randomly and there were citizens all over,” Kearse said. The university was placed on lockdown, with those on campus being told to remain indoors and everyone else to stay away. An AK-47 was later found under a vehicle in a nearby parking lot. The wild, four-hour-long chase and shootout ended when a Missouri state Highway Patrol trooper took the gunman into custody Thursday afternoon. Willcoxson was bleeding and may have been shot in the arm or hand, but no one else was hurt, according to Chief Kearse.