East Texas

By MALENA OGLES
Staff Writer

KELLYVILLE — A multi-county manhunt was under way Tuesday night for a man involved in the fatal shooting of a Marion County Department of Public Safety trooper.

Trooper Jean Dark with the Texas Department of Public Safety said the shooting happened just before 8 p.m. by the intersection of Farm-to Market roads 1969 and 729 north east of Lake 0’ The Pines near Kellyville.

The trooper, identified as James Scott Burns, 39, was involved in a high speed chase along FM 1969 when he was shot.

Dark said the vehicle the officer was pursuing, a blue Dodge Intrepid, was registered to Daniel Umphries, 24, of Tyler.

Authorities did not say Umphries is the shooter, only that they are looking for him and the vehicle.

Members of the Umphries family, however, told the Tyler Paper that the Tyler man is currently behind bars at the Bradshaw unit serving a sentence for a state jail felony and will not be eligible for parole for another 14 months. The family member said Umphries sold the car four or five months ago.

Dark said a Marion County Sheriff’s Office deputy assisting Burns reported the shooting to dispatch.

Police were still on the lookout for the vehicle. Authorities encourage anyone with information on the vehicle, Texas license plate 039-LCG, to contact law enforcements officials immediately.

“There is a multi jurisdiction effort to find this vehicle,” Dark said.