An inmate who escaped from an Iowa prison was shot dead by 71-year-old homeowner on Tuesday after a four-hour hostage ordeal, according to local media reports.
The escaped convict, Rodney Long, had eluded officers trying to track him down for four days before he broke into the Bedford home of Jerome Mauderly, a retired prison guard, and his wife Carolyn Mauderly at about 10:15 p.m. on Monday night, according to the Daily Iowegian.
Long disabled the phones in the Mauderlys' small one-story home in a rural area next to cornfields, and was suspected of trying to gather supplies to help in his escape, the Des Moines Register reported.
But after four hours as a hostage Jerome Mauderly had had enough and retrieved his shotgun, police said.
“As the situation wore on, a decision was made by the Mauderlys that they were going to defend themselves,” the state's lead investigator Mitch Mortvedt told reporters at a Tuesday news conference, the Register reported.
Mauderly shot Long once, officials said. No one else was seriously injured in the shooting.
Police said Long, was carrying a semi-automatic weapon.
Shortly after 2 a.m. Carolyn called 911 to tell authorities her husband had shot Long. Officers found Long lying face down in the kitchen of the home.
State authorities said the couple would not face charges.
Long was suspected of shooting a southwest Iowa sheriff's deputy on Sunday night after two days on the run from the Clarinda Correctional Facility’s minimum security prison where he was serving time on a burglary charge.
The officer, Taylor County Deputy Dan Wyckoff was the first to arrive on the scene and was wounded by two shots.