[h1]Officer Shot, Suspect Dies In KCK Shootout[/h1]
POSTED: 8:17 am CDT October 15, 2010
UPDATED: 11:50 am CDT October 15, 2010
KANSAS CITY, Kan. -- A Kansas City, Kan., police officer was shot in the hand and a suspect died Friday morning after a shootout inside a store Thursday evening.
Police said officers saw subjects believed to be involved in a home break-in on Wednesday at 13th Street and Central Avenue. Two people surrendered. Another man fled the scene and walked right past Richard Colston into the business where he works.
Colston works at Glenn's Pre-Owned Appliances and said the man involved in the shootout walked past him with a gun in hand. Soon, he said what he thought was about to be a robbery turned into something far worse.
"I've never seen nothing like this in my life," Colston said. "He had a gun in his right hand and something else in his left hand. And he looked up at me and he just smiled, laughed.
" He said the man walked to the back door, soon followed by four officers.
"I heard them tell him to surrender and then they asked him to drop his weapon, then I heard an 'F you,'" the witness said. "It was like four shots, hesitation two minutes apart, then all of a sudden they just unloaded.
"Police said the suspect fired at them, hitting the officer in the arm and hand, and multiple officers returned fire.
Colston says he and his co-worker watched the officers back out with guns drawn, and ended up standing right alongside the injured officer.
"He was shot in the hand, in his ring finger. And he asked the other officer who was helping him to pull his wedding band off. He was going to lose his finger, so he wanted his wedding band taken off. But he was bleeding real bad from the hand.
"Police said even after the shooting, the man barricaded himself inside for around 10 minutes or more before he came out as officers were setting up for a standoff.
The officer, a seven-year veteran with the department, has been released from the hospital.The suspect who died had a resident alien card in his pocket, police said.
Copyright 2010 by
KCTV5.com. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
