MSP trooper shot and killed in line of duty

A downstate Michigan State Police trooper has died in the line of duty.

Trooper Paul Butterfield II of the Hart Post was shot Monday night while conducting a traffic stop.

State Police officials in Lansing say Butterfield stopped a vehicle shortly before 6:30 p.m. on Custer Road in Mason County. Three minutes later, a passing motorist called 911 to say that Trooper Butterfield was on the ground and had been shot in the head. He died at Munson Medical Center in Traverse City during emergency surgery.

Police developed a suspect based on information Butterfield provided to dispatchers about the vehicle he stopped. They found the suspect in Wellston in Manistee County at approximately 8:30 p.m. Monday. Troopers say that when they approached, the suspect pointed a handgun at one of the troopers. One trooper fired and hit the suspect.

Two people, a male and female, were taken into custody. The male was taken to a hospital with a non-life-threatening gunshot wound.  The investigation into both incidents is ongoing.

Trooper Butterfield was a U.S. Army veteran and joined the State Police in 1999. He served at the Manistee and Hart posts over the years.