Suspected Cop Killer Was 'Making a Stand,' Sheriff Says
Police from three States, feds hunt Scott Curley along Arizona-Utah border.
Aug. 28, 2010— -- A suspected cop-killer was likely delusional and was "making a stand" when he allegedly gunned down a Utah sheriff's deputy, setting off a massive manhunt that entered its third day today, police said.
Police across southern Utah and northern Arizona have been searching for Scott Curley, 23, since Thursday, when he allegedly shot Sheriff's Deputy Brian Harris of Kane County, Utah.
Harris, 41, was pursuing Curley with several other officers to arrest him for allegedly holding a school janitor at gunpoint during a failed burglary attempt.
"I don't think he's a well individual," Kane County Sheriff Lamont Smith said today. "He might have delusionary problems. He's making a stand. I think it was planned.
"I think he was at a breaking point and he had this planned," Smith said.
Smith declined to go into Curley's record, but said he has had at least one previous "run in with the law," and that what he had heard acquaintances of Curley made him expect trouble.
The U.S. Marshals Office today added a $10,000 reward for information leading to Curley's capture, bolstering a manhunt that already involves 21 federal, state and local law enforcement agencies.
"We know someone is out there who knows where this individual is and we hope they will step forward," said David Gonzales, U.S. Marshal for Arizona. "The suspect has to be lucky every day. We only have to be lucky once."
Driscoll said 318 officers from 36 agencies -- nine of federal, 18 from Utah, eight from Arizona and one from Nevada -- were all involved in the search.
When the ambush occurred Thursday, Kane County deputies were attempting to arrest Curley on charges that he tried to burglarize Fredonia High School in Fredonia, Arizona, and held a janitor at gunpoint on Wednesday night.
Kane County officials said as officers were following his trail, Curley took position behind a tree where he could see them approaching.
"When these officers came up over the rise, he had his sights on them and fired upon them, hitting Deputy Harris," Kane County Sheriff's Office Sgt. Alan Alldredge said.
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