Gunman sought after ranger killed in US park

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A shooting death of a park ranger in the United States has sparked off a manhunt which now has eerie similarities to the 1992 movie Rambo: First Blood - the story of a troubled Vietnam Vet who evades capture after the death of a police officer.

On Monday, a popular US national park will remain closed as police hunt suspect Benjamin Colton Barnes, 24, who allegedly killed 34-year-old park ranger Margaret Anderson after she set up a roadblock to corral the suspect who had sped away from an earlier traffic stop.

A major manhunt has now been launched after efforts at Mount Rainier National Park failed to find the suspect by nightfall, which hampered efforts to track him amid sub-zero temperatures.

The incident happened on New Year's night.

Barnes is reported to be a former soldier with previous run-ins with the law. He allegedly shot Anderson with a high-powered assault rifle before fleeing into the wilderness on foot at around 11:00 am local time.

Nighttime temperatures below 30 degrees Fahrenheit were expected as law enforcement officers search the expansive 368-square mile national park in Washington state, south of Seattle.

A car with weapons, body armor, and survivalist gear was discovered, although it was initially unclear if that car belonged to Barnes.

According to local media outlet KOMO News, Barnes is also believed to be connected to a shooting earlier on Sunday that injured four in Skyway, a community approximately 10 miles southeast of Seattle.

Witnesses told the police that the suspect was asked to leave a party earlier in the night before returning and opening fire.

Law enforcement personnel have flooded the national park, centered on the spectacular snow-capped volcanic Mount Rainier, which is about 40 miles south of Skyway,

After the shooting, authorities focused on getting parkgoers out safely, some of whom are believed to be hunkered down for the night in lodges or other structures.

"We have been evacuating visitors but we do still have people in the park, there are people who are out snowshoeing or skiing who are coming back in," park spokeswoman Lee Taylor told CNN on Sunday.

Taylor said about 85 visitors were being sheltered in the park visitors' center until it was safe for them to evacuate.

The park, which had only just opened for New Year's Day, was immediately closed after the shooting.

Calls to the office of the park's spokesman and Pierce County police were not returned. But an update on the park's Twitter feed late Sunday said simply: "The park will remain closed Monday, January 2nd, 2011."

A popular destination for hikers and outdoors enthusiasts, Mt. Rainier National Park boasts miles of hiking trails offering spectacular vistas of the 14,411-foot peak.