BLUFF, Utah – The body of a man believed to be one of three suspected cop-killers was found shot to death several hours after a Utah sheriff’s deputy was shot and wounded Thursday about 30 miles southwest of the site where a Colorado police officer was slain six days earlier.

The body was identified as that of Robert Mathew Mason, 26, of Durango, Utah Highway Patrol spokesman Verdi White said.

The fugitive’s body was found in a shallow bunker along the San Juan River, about five miles east of Bluff and near Swinging Bridge, a wooden foot bridge that crosses the river.

San Juan County Sheriff Mike Lacy said the dead suspect, dressed in camouflage  with pipe bombs in the bunker nearby, appeared to have shot himself. A bomb squad was called to remove the explosives.

Kelly Bradford, a deputy in the San Juan County, Utah, sheriff’s department, was the fourth police officer shot in six days. He was taken to the Blanding Medical Center, and then flown to St. Mary’s Hospital in Grand Junction where he was listed in good condition early Friday.

Bradford’s wounds were superficial, Lacy said. Bradford, in his mid-30s, might have been more seriously wounded if he had not been wearing a bulletproof vest.

An intense manhunt continued today for two suspects still at large. The last sighting of the suspects was at 2 p.m. Thursday, Lacy said.

Herald/Jerry McBride A HELICOPTER lands near the San Juan River about two miles east of Bluff, Utah, Thursday to pick up members of a SWAT team. At far right is the area where officials found the body of Robert Mathew Mason of Durango.

At a 9 a.m. news conference at a roadblock 2 miles north of Bluff, Lacy said officers were attempting to flush the fugitives from an area about seven miles long and two miles wide along the San Juan River.

National Guard troops from Colorado and Utah had joined the search.

Lacy was not convinced the suspects were still in the canyon.

"The area is rugged, filled with vegetation and trees. I could come into this area and probably survive without getting caught for awhile," Lacy said, adding, "Intelligence has found that one of the suspects was here last Tuesday with a boat, so they may have gone down the river."

At the news conference, Colorado Gov. Romer said the trio apparently had been planning "war games like this" for sometime.

Maps and diagrams found during searches of the suspects' residences detailed locations of possible supply caches.

"This is typical of paramilitary operations," Romer said. "They're doomsayers waiting for the end to come and ... they're ready for it with food, water and support."

Romer agreed with Lacy that the fugitives might have eluded searchers.

"It's very possible they're outside this perimeter. They're survivalists, and they know more about this country than anyone else," he said.

Maj. Gen. Bill Westerdahl, adjutant of the Colorado National Guard, urged caution.

"You're dealing with guys who have a plan and have the right type of weapons. If they're in there, there're so many places they could hide it's incredible," Westerdahl said.

Bradford was shot about 1:20 p.m. Thursday in Bluff, a tourist and artists’ town of 300 on the northern edge of the San Juan River in Utah’s southeast corner.

Lacy said Bradford was shot once in the back and once in the shoulder. He was standing next to his vehicle at an overlook area, responding to a report that a man with a high-powered rifle was hiding in the bushes along a dirt road just outside of Bluff.

Steve Wilcox, 56, a Utah state social worker, was driving his vehicle near the San Juan River shortly after noon when he saw a pair of black Army boots sitting by the side of the road, said his wife, Janet Wilcox. The vehicle has a state emblem, she said.

When Wilcox turned his vehicle around to investigate the boots, he noticed a man wearing camouflage lying in the bushes about 200 yards above him. The man was looking through the scope of a high-powered rifle and fired at Wilcox, Janet Wilcox said.

The bullet missed Wilcox by about 15 feet, she said, and ricocheted on a rock. Wilcox then "stepped on the gas and got out of there as fast as he could."

Wilcox called the sheriff’s office on his cellular phone, and passed Bradford, who was responding to the call, Wilcox said.

According to the Colorado Bureau of Investigation, shell casings recovered from the scene were .308 caliber, the same as those used by the suspects in earlier incidents.

More than 300 officers from dozens of local, state, tribal and federal agencies have been searching around the clock since last Friday for the killers of Dale Claxton, a 45-year-old Cortez police officer who had pulled over the water truck the suspects were driving.

Arrest warrants were issued Tuesday for Mason; Alan " Monte" Pilon, 30, a laborer from Dove Creek, Colo.; and Jason McVean, 26, a laborer, also of Durango. The warrants accuse the three of first-degree murder, assault and aggravated motor-vehicle theft.

The three were believed to be the men who escaped a police pursuit last Friday and fled into Cross Canyon, west and northwest of Cortez. Authorities believe they were associated with anti-government militia groups. Pipe bombs, anti-government literature and bomb-making instructions were found this week in a truck and homes belonging to the suspects.

To reach Bluff, the suspects might have followed the canyon’s stream southwest to its confluence with Montezuma Creek, which flows into the San Juan River 15 miles east of Bluff.

Authorities evacuated Bluff Thursday afternoon, taking residents to schools in Blanding, about 23 miles north. Police set up road blocks on highways leading toward the town. Authorities had been searching mostly in the Cahone, Colo., area, about 25 miles northwest of Cortez and about 50 miles from Bluff.

Children attending summer school in Montezuma Creek and Aneth, two small towns near Bluff, were evacuated to Monticello.

"Everyone’s running scared, basically," said Janet Wilcox.

Romer called for a crackdown on paramilitary groups and activities. He urged stronger gun control.

"We don't need any AK-47s in the West."

(The Associated Press contributed to this report.)