3 police officers shot in Kansas City
Posted By: Channel 8 Eyewitness News
8@klkntv.com
Update:
ABC News – A man wanted for questioning in the murder of a college student shot three police officers in Kansas City, Missouri, on Sunday during a series of firefights that began at a motel and ended with his death when he bolted from a house with his rifle blazing, authorities said.
The shooting erupted just after noon at a motel in the city where undercover and tactical officers were conducting an investigation into the robbery and killing at a restaurant last week of a 25-year-old University of Missouri-Kansas City student, police said.
Kansas City Police Chief Rick Smith said detectives had been conducting surveillance on a person of interest in the July 6 murder and had followed him to the Sky-Vue Motel on Highway 40 on the east side of the city.
"Our officers then engaged with the person that they were trying to surveil and there was gunfire," Smith told reporters. "At that point two of our officers were shot."
The suspected gunman, armed with a rifle, fled the scene in a vehicle with a second individual, police said. Officers chased the vehicle to a residential neighborhood near the intersection of 30th Street and Topping Avenue and arrested one of the men who had sped from the motel, police said.
The armed suspect ran from the vehicle, barricaded himself in a home in the area and fired on officers as they approached the residence, Smith said. A third detective was wounded in the firefight, hit in the forearm by a bullet, Smith said.
He said all three wounded officers were being treated in a hospital for "non-life-threatening injuries, thank God."
"We then engaged with the suspect several times," Smith said. "There was a firefight."
He said the suspect came charging out of the house allegedly firing his rifle at officers, who returned fire shooting the gunman. He said multiple shots were fired in at least three different gunfights with the suspect.
The suspected shooter, whose name was not immediately released, was declared dead at the scene by the Kansas City Fire Department.
Suspect believed to be connected to Kansas City police shooting "shot and taken into custody" after exchanging gunfire with officers. The suspect was declared deceased, Kansas City Police say. All three officers shot are believed to be in stable condition.
This is a breaking news story. Please check back for updates.
ABC NEWS-A manhunt was on for a gunman who shot three police officers in Kansas City, Missouri, during a confrontation Sunday afternoon, authorities said.
The shooting erupted just after noon on the east side of the city as undercover and tactical officers were conducting an investigation, the Kansas City Police Department said in a series of tweets.
"They encountered a suspect who fired on officers with a rifle," police said in the tweets.
Three officers were struck by gunfire on Highway 40, police said.
The suspected gunman fled the scene in a vehicle, which was later found abandoned in a residential neighborhood near the intersection of 30th Street and Topping Avenue, police said.
The conditions of the wounded officers were not immediately released.
This is a breaking news story. Please check back for updates.
