Alert issued as police search for man who allegedly shot Lee’s Summit officer
A Blue Alert has been issued for a 27-year-old man who allegedly shot a police officer multiple times, seriously injuring him, late Sunday at a Lee’s Summit apartment complex.
Police are searching for Thomas Eugene Tolbert, according to a public safety alert sent out by the Missouri Highway Patrol at approximately 8:45 a.m. Monday.
Tolbert was described as a Black man, approximately 6 feet 2 inches tall, weighing 240 pounds. He has black hair and brown eyes, and was wearing a black top with a hood and black shorts. He is allegedly armed with a 10mm handgun.
The alert, which is issued when a law enforcement officer is killed or seriously injured, went to people’s phones in Cass, Clay, Jackson, Johnson, Lafayette, Platte and Ray counties in Missouri.
Tolbert is suspected of shooting the Lee’s Summit officer around 11 p.m. Sunday at the Residences at Echelon apartments in the 3500 block of Southwest Hollywood Drive, according to the alert.
The officer had responded to a report of a domestic disturbance at the apartments and was waiting for another officer to arrive, said Sgt. Chris Depue with the Lee’s Summit Police Department.. The officer saw a man running from the scene and chased after him.
After a short foot pursuit, Tolbert allegedly shot the officer and fled in a vehicle that was later found in Grandview.
The officer, who did not fire any shots, was struck multiple times, and was taken to a hospital’s trauma center, where he was in serious condition Monday morning, Depue said.
In a late-morning update, Depue said that the officer was cleared from surgery, but remained in serious condition.
The officer was shot a total of four time — one round was stopped by his bullet-proof vest directly over his chest, Depue said.
The officer joined the Lee’s Summit Police Department about 1 1 /2 years ago, coming from another law enforcement agency, Depue said.
Tolbert allegedly “has a history of aggravated assault and shooting a law enforcement,” the Missouri Highway Patrol said in the alert.
Lee’s Summit police previously had contact with Tolbert in April when an officer cited him for allegedly driving 51 mph in a 35 mph zone, according to a citation filed in Lee’s Summit Municipal Court.
Court records show Tolbert was convicted of charges out of a pair of cases in Jackson County Circuit Court, one from 2017 and the other from 2019.
In the 2019 case, he was sentenced to five years in prison after making an Alford plea to counts of first-degree assault, armed criminal action and resisting or interfering with an arrest. In an Alford plea, a defendant does not admit guilt but acknowledges that prosecutors have enough evidence for a conviction if the case went to trial.
In the 2017 case, he was sentenced to four years in prison after pleading guilty to a count of unlawful use of a weapon.
Anyone with information about Tolbert’s whereabouts is asked to call 911 or the TIPS Hotline at 816-474-TIPS (87477).
This story was originally published June 2, 2025 at 9:15 AM.
