Police Shoot Dead Soldier Dressed As Joker

A US soldier dressed and wearing face-paint like Batman villain The Joker has been shot and killed by police, according to the FBI.

It happened after he pointed a loaded shotgun at police officers following a chase in Virginia.

Army Specialist Christopher Lanum had been a suspect in the stabbing of a fellow soldier, Specialist Mitchell Stone, which happened just hours before.

Lanum, who apparently idolised the Joker character, was shot when officers tried to stop the minivan he was driving in the Shenandoah National Park.

His girlfriend Patsy Ann Marie Montowski, who was a passenger in the van, was hit by gunfire and treated in hospital.

She was later arrested and charged with being accessory after the fact to assault, authorities said.

Lanum was dressed in The Joker outfit at the time of an argument with Stone at the Fort Eustis base.

Stone is thought to have told emergency workers that Lanum stabbed him and used a stun gun on him.

Stone was taken to a hospital for serious injuries and later released.

Montowski apparently told the FBI that Lanum idolised the character, played by Heath Ledger in the Dark Knight.

She and Lanum fled in her van, which a park ranger spotted about 200 miles north west of the base, according to authorities.

The ranger called for help, and Lanum led police on a chase before running over a spike strip laid down by police and crashing, they added.

The FBI said Montowski told them that Lanum handed her the shotgun and asked her to kill him, but she refused.

Authorities said Lanum pointed the gun at police, his finger on the trigger, and refused commands to drop the weapon. A trooper fired through the driver's side window, Lanum's shotgun discharged, and police fired several times.

The trooper and park rangers involved in the shooting had been placed on administrative leave with pay pending the outcome of internal investigations.