Troopers shoot man who approached Lee’s Summit highway patrol headquarters with rifle
Update: In a news release posted at about 9:30 a.m. Tuesday, highway patrol released new information stating the suspect had approached the main entrance of the building and fired multiple shots. Troopers shot him after he didn’t comply with their verbal commands, authorities said.
Troopers with Missouri State Highway Patrol shot and wounded a man Monday evening after he approached a troop headquarters with a long rifle, officials said.
At about 9:40 p.m. Monday, a vehicle pulled up to the west side of Troop A headquarters in Lee’s Summit. A trooper who was in the parking lot near his vehicle noticed a man get out of his truck with an assault-style rifle, Sgt. Bill Lowe, a spokesman for the highway patrol, said.
“At that point in time the trooper gave several commands to the suspect,” Lowe said.
The trooper then called for backup. Two other troopers came out from inside the building to respond to the scene.
“Subsequently there was shots fired and we have one suspect that was transported to the hospital,” Lowe said.
The two troopers who came out of the building fired their duty weapons, Lowe said. One has been with highway patrol about five years, and the other is a veteran of about 15 years. Neither were injured.
According to an update Tuesday morning, the suspect was still in the hospital, and in stable condition.
As of a press conference late Monday night, Lowe did not know if the suspect had also fired his weapon.
Lowe said he’s thankful the suspect didn’t get into the building, where a number of unarmed personnel work, and do more damage.
“I’m assuming that he had an issue with either us or law enforcement in general,” Lowe said. “We don’t know.”
Highway patrol’s division of drug and crime control is investigating the incident. They began processing the scene Monday night.
“It’s disturbing to say the very least. You don’t expect that at your troop headquarters,” Lowe said. “We’ve got to find a different way to air our disagreements, and this is not the way to do it.”
The Lee’s Summit Police Department’s bomb squad also responded to the scene Monday night to make sure there was nothing dangerous in the suspect’s car. No bombs were found.
This story was originally published January 5, 2021 at 8:25 AM.
