Two police officers injured in shootout Saturday night in Peculiar
Two police officers were injured in a shootout Saturday night in Peculiar, according to the Cass County Sheriff’s Office.
The officers with the Peculiar Police Department were shot while responding to a call of an armed subject on a road, Maj. Kevin Tieman, a sheriff’s office spokesman, said in an email early Sunday morning.
The officers were called about 8:30 p.m. Saturday to the area of SE Outer Road and South Hedgewood Hills Road, where they found a male suspect with a shotgun, Tieman said.
At some point, both the suspect and officers fired shots, he said.
Each officer received minor injuries, Tieman said. They’ve since been released from the hospital.
The suspect, who was not shot, was arrested around 10:30 p.m. Saturday. Charges had not been filed as of early Sunday morning.
Members of the Kansas City Police Department and Cass County Sheriff’s Office also responded to the scene.
A negotiator with the sheriff’s office spoke with the suspect as he stood on the road for about two hours, Tieman said. Kansas City police responded with a helicopter and tactical units. Kansas City’s SWAT team eventually took the suspect into custody.
The Cass County Sheriff’s Office is investigating the shooting.
On Sunday, nothing remained at the scene except a short piece of police crime scene tape.
A nearby resident, Dan Vest, 72, said he heard one or two loud bangs Saturday night as he babysat his grandson at his home off SE Outer Road. His dog immediately reacted to the noise.
“That dog come unglued and bounced off the door,” he said.
Vest wondered if the neighbor across the highway, who had just gotten married, was shooting off fireworks. And, he said, gunshots aren’t uncommon in the area. Some of his neighbors like to shoot recreationally.
But then a friend of his from Phoenix, Arizona, who used to live nearby, called.
“Hey there’s trouble right by your house,” Vest’s friend said.
Vest immediately ushered everyone, including his year-and-a-half-old grandson, into the back bedroom, where they waited out the commotion.
“Once I found out there was somebody out there, my main deal was stay in the house and stay protected, he said.
“I’m glad that nobody was hurt bad,” he said. “But they’ll never be the same mentally, I can tell you that.”
“I just pray that they’re all OK,” he added.
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 September 27, 2020 at 8:01 AM.
