Alabama police shoot dead fugitive cop killer

MOBILE, Alabama (Reuters) - Authorities shot and killed an escaped inmate Friday who stabbed one Mobile police officer to death and wounded a second after fleeing in a stolen police car.

Cpl. Christopher Levy, spokesman for the Mobile Police Department, said Lawrence Wallace Jr., 24, was pronounced dead at the scene of a standoff several miles from the location where Officer Steven Green was stabbed.

Lori Myles, spokeswoman for the Mobile County Sheriff's Office, said the incident began around 3:50 p.m. as Green transported Lawrence to Mobile County Metro Jail for booking on a robbery charge. Lawrence stabbed Green and then fled in the officer's patrol car.

A second officer, Mark Johnson, gave chase and was shot in the arm during the pursuit. He received treatment at the University of South Alabama Medical Center and was later discharged.

Court records showed Wallace was arrested for first-degree robbery in 2007, but the charge was dropped. He was arrested again on April 5, 2011, and charged with possession of a controlled substance and second-degree marijuana possession.

Mobile Police Chief Michael T. Williams appeared briefly at the site of the standoff on Cedar Crescent Drive. He declined to comment until after meeting with families of the victims at the hospital.

(Editing By Tim Gaynor and Paul Thomasch)