Gunman in post office shootout was wanted in Wisconsin

<p>A Wisconsin man who fatally shot a police officer during a traffic stop and then killed himself inside a nearby post office was wanted in his home state for violating his supervised release from prison, where he served time for firearm and robbery convictions, authorities said Friday.</p><p>Police say Cedric O'Neal Gordon, 31, of Racine, Wis., was holding Pine Lake Officer Francis Ortega hostage at about 4:40 p.m. Thursday when he shot him at point-blank range.</p><p>Gunfire was exchanged between the shooter and another officer before Gordon fled into the post office and it was surrounded by police.</p><p>Gordon later was found dead inside of what appeared to be a self-inflicted gunshot wound, according to the U.S. Postal Inspection Service and the DeKalb County police chief.</p><p>While Georgia authorities continued to investigate Friday a motive for the shooting, officials in Wisconsin said Gordon had a criminal record there for violent offenses.</p><p>In 1991, Gordon was sentenced to 10 years in prison followed by two years probation for convictions for armed robbery and battery in Racine County, said John Dipko, spokesman for the Wisconsin Department of Corrections.</p><p>He was released on a supervised basis in 1998, but that was revoked the following year because he was charged with possession of a firearm by a felon and recklessly endangering public safety, also in Racine County, Dipko said.</p><p>Afterward, Gordon was ordered to serve the more than three years that remained on his prior sentence. He also was sentenced on the new offenses to seven years in prison followed by three years on probation.</p><p>Gordon was released again on a supervised basis on Nov. 18, 2003. On March 30, 2005, a warrant was issued for him after he failed to report to his community supervision agent, Dipko said, adding that officials were still searching for Gordon at the time of Thursday's shooting.</p>