A second KCPD officer is shot Thursday as suspect also struck near 31st and Van Brunt
This story has been updated. The latest can be found here: Suspect dead, Kansas City police officer in emergency surgery following shooting
A second Kansas City police officer was shot Thursday, according to the Kansas City Police Department.
Gunfire broke out near 31st Street and Van Brunt Boulevard just before 5 p.m. Thursday, police said. An officer and a suspect were shot, said Sgt. Jake Becchina, a KCPD spokesperson.
The officer was taken to a hospital, according to the Missouri State Highway Patrol. KC police later said the officer was shot in the head and was undergoing emergency surgery.
Police said to avoid the area until further notice. At least a dozen KCPD and highway patrol cars were gathered at the scene, where officials said they were still looking for at least one suspect. Later, a police spokesperson said the suspect had died.
Earlier Thursday morning, another KCPD officer was shot, along with two others, after an alleged robbery in northeast Kansas City. According to Sgt. Bill Lowe of the Missouri State Highway Patrol, a Ride KC bus driver called police after she witnessed a robbery around 10:35 a.m. and saw the suspect board her bus.
Lowe said the suspect shot an officer who tried to enter the back of the bus near the intersection of Independence and Hardesty avenues. The suspect also shot the bus driver before another officer shot the suspect. The officer was treated and released from a hospital, police said. Lowe said the bus driver had non life-threatening injuries.
“There’s been a lot of talk about what we do and why we do it,” Lowe told reporters near the scene of the second shooting Thursday. “We put ourselves at risk everyday with the possibility of something like this happening and when it does, it really hits home. But we still have a job to do, to make sure that there are no more threats to the community.”
Mayor Quinton Lucas tweeted his support for KCPD following the news of the second officer shooting.
“This has been a tough day for the men and women of [KCPD] and the people of Kansas City,” Lucas wrote. “Please pray for our wounded officer, all of our law enforcement community, and their families. I thank them all for their courage and service.”
This story is developing and will be updated when more information becomes available.
Gun violence will be the subject of a new, statewide journalism project The Star is undertaking in Missouri this year in partnership with the national service program Report for America and sponsored in part by Missouri Foundation for Health. As part of this project, The Star will seek the community’s help.
To contribute, visit Report for America online at reportforamerica.org.
This story was originally published July 2, 2020 at 5:26 PM.
