Off-duty police officer killed on Christmas Eve in apparent murder-suicide

By Kalie Strain

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    ST. LOUIS, Missouri (KMOV) — An off-duty St. Louis County police officer was killed the morning of Christmas Eve in an apparent murder-suicide in Lincoln County, the sheriff’s office said.

The Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office said deputies found two people shot to death in an unincorporated area of the county. A spokesperson for the sheriff’s office said St. Louis County Police Officer Robert Woods was identified as the victim in the incident. Woods was 36 years old and served five years on the St. Louis County Police Department, Sgt. Tracy Panus with St. Louis County Police said.

Woods was shot multiple times in the torso. Another person, not identified Saturday by the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office, “appears to have died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound,” the sheriff’s office said in a press release. The sheriff’s office added that the shooter and Woods knew each other but did not specify further.

There are no other suspects in the incident and there is not believed to be a threat to the community.

“We ask that the community pray for Officer Woods’ family and his Department family as we are all very saddened and devastated by this tragic loss,” Panus said in an email.

News 4 has reached out to the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office for the exact location of the incident.

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