A 34-year-old Kansas sheriff’s deputy was killed on Saturday when he was shot while responding to a domestic violence call, authorities said.
Wyandotte County Sheriff’s Deputy Elijah Ming was gunned down as he approached a home in Kansas City, Kansas, after a woman, concerned for her own safety, requested a deputy to accompany her as she moved out of the residence, officials said. Prior to the shooting, the woman informed police that a man with a gun inside the house had earlier threatened her and her friends when she first attempted to move out, according to officials.
“Deputy Ming gave his life serving Wyandotte County and all of its residents,” Wyandotte County Sheriff Daniel Soptic said at a news conference on Saturday, also noting that Ming was a 9-year veteran of the Wyandotte County Sheriff’s Office.
The shooting occurred at around 3:45 p.m. on Saturday in southwest Kansas City, according to Chief Karl Oakman of the Kansas City Police Department.
Deputy Ming and an officer from the Kansas City Police Department went to the home to assist the woman move when a man inside opened fire on them without warning, striking Ming, Oakman said. The Kansas City Police officer was not injured, he said.
Other officers raced to the house upon hearing of the shooting, according to Oakman.
“As the Kansas City, Kansas, Police Department was responding, the individual continued to fire on the responding officers, who then returned fire,” Oakman said.
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Oakman said the suspect, later identified by law enforcement as 38-year-old Shawn Harris, was wounded in the gunfight and retreated back into the home, where he barricaded himself.
Police negotiators spent about an hour talking to Harris over the phone before he surrendered, Oakman said.
Harris was taken to a hospital to be treated, Oakman said, and was listed in good condition as of Saturday night.
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After visiting with Ming’s family at the hospital, Kansas City Mayor Tyrone Gardner requested that the community to pray for them. “There are no words or comfort that can ever ease the pain of losing someone you love to senseless violence,” said Gardner.
The Kansas Bureau of Investigation is leading the probe into the shooting and will present its findings to the Wyandotte County District Attorney’s Office to decide what charges to file against the suspect, according to officials.
