Police: One dead after Goddard officer shoots at driver

WICHITA, Kan. (KSNW) — The Goddard police chief said a Goddard police officer shot and killed someone waving a gun during a short pursuit around 10 a.m. Monday. The shooting happened at 183rd Street West and 63rd Street South.

Goddard Police Chief Lance Beagley said the officer tried to pull a driver over for a traffic violation, but the man did not stop. The chief said the officer followed the man for a few miles south out of Goddard.

“The officer pursued the vehicle for a short while and disregarded pursuing the vehicle, even though speeds were not that high,” the chief said. “The motorist continued at a fairly safe speed with the officer at a distance following behind.”

Beagley said the driver made a gesture and displayed a handgun from inside the vehicle. The officer related the information to other officers over the radio.

When the man got to 183rd West and 63rd Street South, the slow pursuit ended.

“The motorist suddenly stopped at the location behind us and exited the vehicle with the handgun in his hand, and approached the officer,” Beagley said. “The officer gave numerous continual commands for the subject to drop the handgun.”

The chief said the officer got to a point where he felt threatened and fired his weapon.

“I think anybody, any reasonable person would understand that a subject with a handgun can be a threat to an officer at any distance, and the officer tried to give commands and give the suspect an opportunity to drop the handgun before the officer had to defend himself,” Beagley said.

The officer fired five to ten rounds, striking the man he had been pursuing. The man died at the scene. The chief says the man did not fire the handgun.

Beagley said the officer’s car had a camera, and the officer was wearing a camera.

He said that although the Kansas Bureau of Investigation handles many of the state’s officer-involved shootings, the KBI will not be used for this case.

“With it only involving our one officer and not multiple officers from multiple agencies, we didn’t request the KBI for this,” Beagley said. “The Sedgwick County Sheriff’s Office will do … all of the investigation.”

The chief also contacted the district attorney’s office.

In the meantime, the Goddard police officer has been placed on administrative leave, which is customary for officer-involved shootings.

Beagley did not say how old the driver was or where he was from. The chief did not know if the Goddard Police Department had any previous interactions with the man.

The chief expects more details could be released Tuesday.