The Philadelphia Inquirer and Associated Press reports suspects in the shooting of Roanoke Rapids police officer John Taylor were wanted fugitives accused of recently stealing a vehicle in Bucks County. Both had been released from jail while facing charges, even though one of them was on parole.

Michael Edgerton, now dead, and Renee Phillips, now under arrest, were declared fugitives a month ago after failing to appear at a Bucks County court hearing on their charges, records show. They had both been arrested in August and jailed with bail set at $40,000. Court officials say a judge later eliminated their bail requirement and told the two to live in recovery houses.

Edgerton was allowed to go free in Bucks County on August 23, five days after authorities in Delaware County had issued an arrest warrant because the new charges violated his parole, the paper reported.

Parole supervisor Chris Pawlowski said the warrant was placed into law enforcement databases. Delaware County officials would have preferred to keep him in custody because of the violation, and said they weren't notified that he was being freed.

"We have no knowledge that he was released from Bucks County," Pawlowski said.

Investigators hunted Edgerton and Phillips for about 24 hours after the shooting. They eventually found the pair Thursday in a wooded area near where the officer had been shot and their car abandoned. Phillips was arrested and charged with possession of a stolen vehicle, possession of a stolen firearm and accessory after the fact. Officers found Edgerton dead after they say he turned the gun on himself.

"We feel like we've brought safety back to our neighborhood here," said Police Chief Jeff Hinton.

Authorities believe Edgerton and Phillips were in a vehicle that had been stolen in Pennsylvania. Taylor pulled them over Wednesday afternoon for following too closely to another vehicle, a minor traffic violation. Hinton said dashboard video shows Taylor was cautious as he walked to the vehicle and the shots were fired a few seconds later.

The Inquirer reported court records show that both Edgerton and Phillips had faced a variety of criminal charges in Pennsylvania. He was sentenced to at least nine months in prison after negotiating a guilty plea to an access device fraud charge in May 2009.