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A Missouri police officer who was shot and killed and two others who were wounded had been sent to the wrong house following a 911 call, authorities said Wednesday.
Missouri Highway Patrol Sgt. Bill Lowe said no one spoke when the 911 call came in Tuesday night but two women could be heard arguing in the background. For reasons that authorities still are trying to determine, the officers were sent to the address in Clinton where they were shot. The home that officers should have responded to was in Windsor, about 15 miles (24 kilometers) away.
The three Clinton officers went inside the home to determine if criminal activity was occurring and James Waters shot them, Lowe said. Waters, 37, was in the home. It's not clear if he was living there.
Officer Christopher Ryan Morton, 30, died. Officer Nathan Bettencourt was in stable condition Wednesday. The third officer, Nicholas Kasper, was treated for gunshot wounds and released Wednesday.
After the officers were shot, a SWAT team entered the house and found Waters dead. Investigators have not determined if he shot himself or was killed by the officers, Lowe said.
A woman who lived at the home, Tammy Widger, 37, was charged Wednesday with possession of methamphetamine with intent to deliver and maintaining a public nuisance, Henry County Prosecuting Attorney Richard Shields said. Her bond was set at $25,000. Widger had sold drugs out of the home previously but it was not clear Wednesday if the officers' shooting was directly related to a drug crime, Shields said.