The suspected shooter is in custody. He also wanted everyone to remember Officer Brad Lancaster who died May 9th near Kansas Speedway.
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There will be a candlelight vigil Wednesday night in front of the Kansas City, Kansas City Hall at 8 p.m.
The man was arrested shortly after the officer was shot. Ford said she thought someone was knocking on her air conditioner until her son rushed downstairs and told her the three loud noises she had heard were gunshots. “The anti-hate speech has got to stop because the consequences are real”, the chief said.
Zongker says it’s different when the killings hit so close to home. Melton responded as backup.
The Kansas City Star reported that, according to Federal Bureau of Investigation statistics, Melton was the 31st police officer killed in the line of duty this year, up from the 16 last year and outpacing the average midyear total of 25.
“The crime does not fit the national narrative of planned attacks against law enforcement officers, but it does fit the narrative fact that words matter”, said police chief Terry Zeigler. He said it was painful to sit in that room and see the grief-stricken faces. She watched for a few minutes as paramedics worked on the officer.
A spokesman for the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives says the agency has about 20 agents on the scene of a fatal shooting of a Kansas City, Kansas, officer.
Melton was following up on reports of a drive-by shooting when he tried to cut off a suspect. “But make no mistake, officers of the Kansas City, Kansas Police Department will continue to fight for the safety of the community… we are not going to go back on the years of work we’ve done”.
She also said officers and their communities need to build stronger relationships so that people being protected by the police trust them. Police weren’t releasing the suspects’ names because charges hadn’t been filed.
The shooting comes in the wake of deadly ambushes of police in Dallas and Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The people in the vehicle fled.
Police have set up a table draped in blue cloth inside their headquarters in Kansas City where people can place cards and flowers.
Police said the person was being questioned along with another person suspected over the initial drive-by shooting. “I ask all Kansans to take a moment to honor the service of Capt. Melton and all officers across our state and across the nation”.
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A Kansas City police officer has died after he was shot this afternoon. The vehicle description hadn’t yet gone out to officers in the field, Zeigler noted.
