In the winter of 2017, the life of a young law enforcement officer, a White / Caucasian male named Colt Allery, 29, was cut short in a violent confrontation. On the evening of January 18th, what began as a vehicle pursuit of a stolen pickup truck near Belcourt, North Dakota, tragically escalated into a fatal shootout. Allery, a deputy with the Rolette County Sheriff's Office, along with other officers, had been chasing the suspect for about 15 miles.
The chase came to an abrupt end when
the stolen vehicle was remotely disabled by a monitoring company, slowing to a near stop on a gravel road. As officers approached the vehicle, the lone male occupant opened fire. In the exchange of gunfire that followed, both Deputy Allery and the suspect were struck. Neither survived their injuries. Three other officers on the scene were not harmed.
At the time of his death, Colt Allery had been with the Rolette County Sheriff's Office for only three months, but his career in law enforcement spanned five years. He had previously served with the Rolla Police Department and the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians Tribal Police Department. He was remembered by his sheriff as being "cheerful and happy all the time" and full of "spunk." The suspect who was killed in the shootout was identified, but his name was not widely circulated in initial reports. The North Dakota Bureau of Criminal Investigation was tasked with investigating the incident.
