ROLLA, N.D. - The name of the man who shot and killed Rolette County Sheriff's Deputy Colt Allery Wednesday night has yet to be released.
The suspect, who was also killed in the incident, was driving a stolen vehicle and did not have identification on him at the time. Authorities were attempting to identify him Friday.
Allery was shot and killed in a gunfire exchange with a man who stole a Chevrolet Silverado pickup from Devils Lake. Both Allery and the man who killed him were pronounced dead at the scene at the intersection of Bureau of Indian Affairs Road 7 and 89th Street, about 8 miles south of Belcourt, N.D.
"We actually do not know who he is," Rolette County Sheriff Gerald Medrud said Thursday. "We received a few phone calls throughout the night, two or three people that family members had called and were worried about, but we looked into it, and it was not the suspect."
Investigators were comparing the suspect's fingerprints and DNA, as well as reviewing community tips in an attempt to identify the gunman.
ADVERTISEMENT
Rolette County deputies were alerted to a stolen pickup Wednesday by OnStar, a service wired into the vehicle, Medrud said. Allery joined the pursuit along with two other Rolette County deputies, a Rolla Police officer and a BIA officer. A shootout ensued after OnStar slowed down the vehicle. Allery and the shooter were pronounced dead at the scene.
Allery's funeral is scheduled for Tuesday. An obituary states the funeral will be at 1 p.m. at Turtle Mountain Community College in Belcourt.
The obituary, posted on the Elick Funeral Home website, says Allery was a "true hero among us, selflessly defending his community in the line of duty."
Allery, who would have turned 30 next month, had worked with the Sheriff's Office for about three months. He had been a law enforcement officer for about three years, previously working for the Rolla Police Department and as a tribal police officer for the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians.
The Rolette County Courthouse was closed to the public Friday for security reasons, according to the North Dakota Court's website.
The reason for the closure was not immediately clear, but a dispatcher at the Rolette County Sheriff's Office said the court staff was still available by phone and email and were admitting visitors who called ahead.
Staff inside the courthouse did not immediately comment on why it had been closed when reached Friday.
The North Dakota Bureau of Criminal Investigation is leading the investigation into the case, and will need about 30 days to forward findings to prosecutors for review, said Mark Sayler, chief agent with the BCI. The deceased have been taken to Grand Forks for autopsies.
ADVERTISEMENT
Other details of the confrontation have not made public, including the number of shots fired, how many times each person was struck and who fired the fatal shots.
