Mayor pleads for calm and urges people not to jump to conclusions about death of officer, identified as Captain Robert Melton, killed after drive-by shooting

This article is more than 4 years old

This article is more than 4 years old

A police officer was shot dead in Kansas City, Kansas, on Tuesday, after he responded to a report of shots fired by several people in a car.



The Kansas City police chief, Terry Ziegler, identified the officer as Captain Robert Melton.

“At approximately two o’clock today there was a drive-by shooting down on First Street,” Ziegler said at a press conference late on Tuesday afternoon. When officers arrived, he said, “the suspect vehicle took off” and a car chase ensued as more police joined the pursuit.

At an intersection, Ziegler said, “the suspects bailed from the vehicle and opened fire, striking Captain Melton and fatally wounding him”.

One suspect was caught at about 1.39pm, but a second officer was shot at 1.57pm when he tried to confront another suspect, police said.

The injured officer’s car was in the middle of the street, police spokesman Cameron Morgan said.

“There’s glass and blood all around it,” Morgan said, adding that authorities are looking for additional suspects.

While police gave no official statement regarding a manhunt, dozens of officers in bullet-proof vests swept through the usually quiet residential neighborhood where the shooting took place, and a highway patrol helicopter hovered overhead.

Dr James Howard, a trauma surgeon at the University of Kansas hospital, said Melton had arrived at the hospital by 2.22pm local time, but he had no blood pressure or heart rate, and “despite our best efforts the officer was pronounced dead at 2.55pm”.

Mayor Mark Hollande pleaded for calm and urged people not to jump to conclusions prompted by the charged atmosphere between communities and police around the country.

“We’re aware that this is not happening in a microcosm,” he said. “There’s a lot of pain and brokenness in our community and in our nation right now.”

But Hollande stressed patience for police work to continue. “We need a thorough investigation and we need to get the facts about what might or might not have happened.”

Governor Sam Brownback tweeted a statement in solidarity with the police, saying “Kansas grieves for the KCK officer who today lost his life in the line of duty. We pray for his family and stand with the [Kansas City police].”

Earlier this year a Kansas City police detective was shot and killed by a carjacking suspect who also shot a civilian as officers pursued him.



Ziegler would not confirm to reporters that more than one suspect was in custody or that police are still searching for others.

The shooting came only two days after a man killed three police officers in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, apparently motivated by radical views to ambush and murder officers. Barack Obama condemned the shooting, which itself took place little more than a week after a man murdered five officers in Dallas, and after weeks of protests against police abuses by people in the communities they serve.