A robbery suspect was shot and killed this morning after firing a gun at two SWAT troopers.
A state trooper spotted Billy Charles Hyde, 29, of Paragould yesterday in the suspected get-away vehicle from a Greene County bank robbery that occurred Friday afternoon. Hyde, who was carrying a handgun, fled, abandoning the vehicle and running to a house two miles northeast of Paragould that belonged to his wife.
Officers surrounded the area and tried to communicate with Hyde and his wife. Hyde refused to surrender. Hyde's wife left the home around 11:40 p.m. Authorities questioned her and then released her.
Hyde escaped his house around 1:25 a.m., crawling through a hole in the floor. He fled east about a fourth of a mile to a wooded area.
Officers and tracking dogs searched the area, and around 4 a.m. a police helicopter detected a heat signature. Officers traveled to that location, and Hyde rose and fired at two officers, who returned fire and killed Hyde.