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Hays Police Sgt. Scott Heimann died of his injuries early Sunday
after being transported by air to a hospital, the Kansas Bureau
of Investigation said. Heimann, 32, joined the police in 2016.
He is the fourth Kansas law enforcement officer to die on duty
in a little more than three months.
Police received a call just before midnight Saturday about a
woman who fled from the suspect's home in Hays, a town of about
21,000 people about 200 miles (322 kilometers) west of Topeka on
Interstate 70, according to the KBI, which is investigating the
officer's shooting. The woman reported that — as she tried to
leave — the suspect drove his truck into her vehicle.
Heimann and a Kansas Highway patrol trooper were setting up a
police perimeter near the backyard of the suspect's home at
about 2 a.m. Sunday when a single shot fired from inside hit
Heimann, authorities said. The suspect was barricaded inside at
the time.
Authorities said the police, the patrol and the KBI negotiated
with the suspect but also used gas, projectiles for breaking
windows and a surveillance drone during the standoff. Officers
entered the house about 6:15 a.m. and found the suspect dead.
They did not fire their weapons, the KBI said.
“We are tragically reminded that Police Officers serve and
protect their communities putting the lives of others above
their own,” Hays Police Chief Don Scheibler said in a statement.
The other officers who died on duty in Kansas this year were
Phillips County Undersheriff Brandon Gaede on June 27; Wyandotte
County Deputy Sheriff Elijah Ming on July 26, and Kansas City
Police Officer Hunter Simoncic on Aug. 26.
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