Undercover and tactical officers were following a person of
interest in the murder of a university student when suddenly and
unexpectedly he fired on them with a rifle, according to police
in Kansas City, Missouri.
Two of the officers were struck at that time, police said.
"We've been looking for him all week. This was the first time we
laid eyes on him," Police Chief Rick Smith told reporters near
the scene.
The suspect fled in a vehicle which was found a short time
later. During the search that followed the suspect fired on
officers again, police said on Twitter. A third officer was hit
by gunfire and also in stable condition.
"All right now appear to have non-life-threatening injuries,
thank God," Smith said.
A few minutes later, the suspect fled from a home where he had
been hiding and again exchanged gunfire with police, whereupon
he was shot, taken into custody, and declared dead by the Kansas
City Fire Department, police said.
Police were not releasing the dead man's identity, a spokeswoman
said.
Officers came across the suspect during their investigation into
the robbery and murder of Sharath Koppu, a 25-year-old student
from India at the University of Missouri-Kansas City who was
shot a week earlier at a Kansas City restaurant. Koppu was taken
to a hospital where he was pronounced dead, police said.
Koppu was a computer engineer who came to the United States in
January to pursue his master's degree, according to a cousin who
started a GoFundMe account. The fund raised more than $50,000 to
repatriate his body to India for last rites.
(Reporting by Daniel Trotta; Editing by Daniel Wallis)
[© 2018 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.] Copyright 2018 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Thompson Reuters is solely responsible for this content.
|
|