US police told family may be hiding 'Bonnie and Clyde'

Police in Tennessee are checking leads that family members may be hiding a convicted thief and his wife, who authorities said gunned down a guard to help her husband escape outside a court.

George Hyatte, in handcuffs and shackles, was on his way back to prison from a court appearance yesterday when Jennifer Hyatte drove up and fired at the two prison officers escorting her husband, Kingston Police Chief Jim Washam said.

“Mr Hyatte hollered ’Shoot him!’ She opened up fire on the officers, hitting one in the abdomen,” Washam said.

One guard, Wayne “Cotton” Morgan, was killed; the other was not identified.

US media are referring to the two as "Bonnie and Clyde".

The bloody escape set off an extensive search. Helicopters circled over the eastern Tennessee town and schools – open for student registration – were locked up.

The Ford Explorer driven by Jennifer Hyatte was later found abandoned with blood on the driver’s side, and police think she may have been wounded by a shot fired by the other officer during the attack, Washam said. Authorities believe the pair later switched from the sport utility vehicle to a van.

Washam said authorities were preparing murder charges against the couple.

“We do have leads coming in on possible whereabouts, possibly some family members that may be hiding them out. We’re trying our best to co-ordinate those,” Washam said. “Right now, we can’t say if they had any help.”

George Hyatte, two years into a 35-year sentence on robbery and assault charges, “is extremely violent, and he has no care or concern on what he does to anyone,” Rhea County Sheriff’s spokesman Jeff Knight said.

Witness C G Gray said he and his wife were about 50 feet from the prisoners when they heard shots. He said Morgan, who was not wearing a protective vest, never got his gun out of his holster.

Morgan, 56, died at the University of Tennessee Medical Centre in Knoxville, hospital spokeswoman Lisa McNeal said.

George Hyatte, 34, was at the court to plead guilty in a deal with prosecutors over an armed robbery charge, Washam said.

Hyatte’s wife is a 31-year-old nurse who had been fired from her job at a prison in Tiptonville because of their relationship, Corrections Department spokeswoman Amanda Sluss said.