Two men accused of killing a police officer and wounding three sheriff’s deputies believed the world would end in 2000 and that one of the suspects had told people he had "something planned" and was "in too deep" to get out of it, according to a report released Friday.

The report, released by authorities three weeks after the men allegedly gunned down Cortez police officer Dale Claxton May 29, also explained specifics of the chase and the subsequent investigations of a manhunt that involved 500 searchers.

Alan "Monte" Pilon, 30, of Dove Creek and Jason Wayne McVean, 26, of Durango are suspected of killing Claxton before vanishing into Cross Canyon northwest of Cortez. A third suspect, Robert Mason, 26, of Durango was found dead June 4 of a self-inflicted gunshot wound after wounding a San Juan County, Utah, sheriff’s deputy.

The decision to release the report was made by the District Attorney’s Office for Montezuma and Dolores counties and several law enforcement agencies in response to numerous media requests to see the affidavits and search warrants in the case.

"There’s been a clamor for the affidavits and other items that were sealed, and the law enforcement agencies and myself made the decision together that we could release this information without endangering the witnesses or the law enforcement officials involved in this case," said Mike Green, district attorney for Montezuma and Dolores counties.

According to the report, Pilon and McVean "told others that they stored large amounts of food, clothing and guns in various unknown locations, in preparation for the end of the world, which will be in the year 2000."

Several bullet casings recovered from an area in La Plata County where McVean used to shoot an automatic weapon were identical to a casing found at the scene of Claxton’s shooting, the report said.

Although the report exposes some details of the investigation into Pilon and McVean’s past, names and addresses were omitted to protect witnesses.

"Because of the level of violence exhibited by these individuals, some identifying information as to witnesses and officers has been omitted, for their protection," the report states.

On May 27, a person spotted a flatbed truck later identified as belonging to McVean driving near the area where a water truck was stolen a day later, according to the report. When the driver of the truck realized he’d been spotted, he immediately sped away from the area, the report said.

During the afternoon of May 28, the suspects allegedly stole a 1998 Mack water truck owned by Overright Trucking from the Richmond Foxy Disposal near Ignacio. An investigation determined that at least one person may have watched the truck from a small hill near the site, the report said.

The next contact authorities had with the suspects was at 9:24 a.m., when Claxton pulled the water truck over on County Road 27 near McElmo Canyon. A witness reported that a person got out of the truck from the passenger side and fired upon Claxton’s patrol car with an automatic weapon, killing the officer.

The witnesses also reported that three people were in the cab of the stolen water truck when Claxton pulled it over. Two of the occupants wore camouflage clothing and the other wore a yellow fireman’s coat or rain jacket and had a clear mask over his face, the witness said.

The suspects drove the water truck south to a residence on County Road F, where one of the suspects approached a man and pointed an assault rifle at him. The suspect, who was described as being 6-foot, 1-inch with blond hair, told the man he didn’t want to hurt him, he just wanted his truck. The man said the suspect then got in a yellow and white 1984 Ford 1-ton flatbed truck and backed it down the driveway to where the water truck was parked.

One suspect entered the cab and one got on the flatbed, Green said, and the truck drove down the driveway.

The suspects drove the truck back onto County Road F, pulling in behind Montezuma County sheriff’s Deputy Jason Bishop and sprayed it with bullets from an automatic weapon. One of these bullets lodged in the back of Bishop’s head, knocking him unconscious.

A Colorado state trooper passed the truck at the intersection of CR F and CR 25, and the person on the flatbed and the person on the passenger’s side of the vehicle each fired several shots, damaging the vehicle and flattening one of its front tires. The suspects then shot Montezuma sheriff’s Detective Todd Martin as they passed him at the intersection of CR 25 and CR F.2, according to the report.

The suspects exchanged gunfire with law enforcement officers as they were pursued on County Road G. Officers lost sight of the flatbed truck "in a rural area" after it had crossed U.S. Highway 160/666, according to the report.

A witness who had seen the flatbed truck near Highway 160 identified, with the help of a photograph, Mason as the driver of the truck, the report said.

The final encounter with the three suspects was at 10:25 a.m., when they passed Art Hutchinson, superintendent of the Hovenweep National Monument, at the west entrance to the monument. The suspects shot approximately 30 rounds at Hutchinson, who was not injured.

More than 2½ hours later, a search helicopter located the flatbed truck at 1 p.m. where it had been abandoned near the rim of Cross Canyon, in San Juan County, Utah, according to the report. Small branches had been placed over the truck, which contained weapons and ammunition, and two loaded magazines were found approximately 75 yards away.

Nearly 500 searchers from various local, state and federal agencies scoured the Cross Canyon area for any sign of the three suspects, all with no luck. The manhunt shifted to near Bluff, Utah, after Mason’s body was found, but no evidence was found in that area to suggest that Pilon and McVean were ever there.