Kansas City, Kansas, officer critically injured after being struck by fleeing car
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Officer struck by fleeing vehicle near State Avenue remains in critical condition.
- Suspect allegedly veered toward unprotected officer before high-speed impact.
- Kansas Bureau of Investigation leads probe; driver taken into custody.
A Kansas City, Kansas, police officer suffered critical injuries early Tuesday after being struck by a car fleeing police, according to media reports.
The officer was outside of their police vehicle when the driver of the fleeing car allegedly swerved intentionally toward the officer, Chief Karl Oakman told media. The officer sustained life-threatening injuries.
“This individual could have just kept going in the lanes like most of them do,” Oakman told reporters. “It makes no sense to intentionally turn your vehicle into the officer who had no protection and strike them at a high rate of speed.”
The officer was struck around midnight near West 75th Street and State Avenue near the Kansas City Kansas Community College.
Officers initially responded to reports of gunshots being fired in the area, Oakman said. When they arrived, they found a person allegedly armed inside a car. The vehicle fled and officers pursued. The fleeing driver eventually crashed and was taken into custody.
The Kansas Bureau of Investigation will take over the investigation into the events leading up to the crash.
Police blocked off State Avenue between 75th and College Parkway while they investigate. Police reopened State Avenue and removed barricades around 8 a.m.
The officer’s injuries come a month after a Wyandotte County law enforcement officer was killed in the line of duty.
Wyandotte County Sheriff Deputy Elijah Ming was fatally shot while responding to a call on July 26 in the Argentine neighborhood of Kansas City, Kansas.
Ming had responded to a request to help a person move items out of a home when a man, later identified as Shawn Harris, 38, allegedly confronted Ming and opened fire, striking him. Harris has been charged with capital murder and criminal possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.
This story was originally published August 26, 2025 at 7:43 AM.
