Missouri Sheriff Killed in Crash While Responding to Assist Deputy

ST. JOSEPH, Missouri -- The DeKalb County sheriff died in a crash Wednesday morning while responding to assist a deputy.

Sheriff Andy Clark was involved in the collision around 11:30 a.m. while he was driving south on Missouri Highway 33 and then crossed over to head east on US Highway 36, according to The News-Press.

Officials said that 71-year-old Robert Carpenter was driving east in a GMC SUV and hit the passenger side of Clark’s pickup causing both vehicles to go off the south side of the highway. Clark wasn’t wearing a seat belt but Carpenter was, the crash report states.

Clark was transported to Mosaic Hospital in St. Joseph where he was pronounced dead.

“I will say that every Sheriff throughout the state and their families are grieving for Sheriff Clark and his family. We are frankly at a loss for words as to this tragedy,” Lewis County Sheriff and the Missouri Sheriffs Association President David Parrish told the news station. "This is a stark reminder of the dangers that all law enforcement faces on a day to day basis.”

Funeral arrangements are pending.