Man Who Shot Police Officers has Long Criminal History

The man who killed two deputies before himself being killed during a shootout this week has had several run-ins with law enforcement.

Richard Dean Bird had served nearly five years in prison for a 2014 conviction for shooting at law enforcement officers. Since he moved to the Lakes Region, Bird had been accused of attempted burglary in Taney County in 2024 and more recently, he was facing charges of burglary and receiving stolen property in Stone County. Bird had an arrest warrant issued for him this past weekend for one of the Stone County Crimes. He was out of jail on a $50,000 bond for another incident at the time of the shootings.

Bird was pulled over Monday afternoon by a Christian County Deputy who he shot and killed then was killed in a shootout later that evening after he had killed another deputy and injured two others.