INDEPENDENCE, Mo. (AP) – A court clerk and a police officer were shot and killed Thursday after a court process worker tried to serve an eviction notice on a Missouri home, authorities said.
Police said a second officer was seriously injured but is expected to survive.
Independence Police Chief Adam Dustman said at a news conference Thursday afternoon in front of CenterPoint Medical Center that two officers who came to the aid of Drexel Mack, who was filing an eviction notice, were struck by gunfire. Ta.
Dustman said Mack, or another civil process worker who was also at the home, called 911 to say Mack had been shot. Officers responded around 1:10 p.m. to assist Mack, who had been shot by someone.
Dustman identified the officer as Kody Allen, 35, and said: “It is extremely tragic and disappointing to report the loss of one of our own.”
The second officer, whose name has not been released, underwent surgery and is expected to recover, Dustman said. A third officer was also “struck by bullets” and suffered minor injuries, the police chief said.
Dustman called Allen a hero and described police over Allen's death as a “broken family.”
“He was always smiling,” Dustman said.
A male suspect in the shooting was taken into custody with minor injuries, Missouri State Highway Patrol Corporal Justin Ewing said at an earlier news conference.
Officer Jack Taylor, a spokesman for the Independence Police Department, said details about what exactly happened before the shooting started were not immediately available. The Missouri State Highway Patrol is leading the investigation.
Officials said Mack was in his early 40s and had worked in Jackson County for more than 10 years.
Presiding Judge Jalila Otto said in a statement: “I am shocked that a court employee, a public servant, was shot by a member of the public while performing his duties.” “Our hearts are heavy. Our thoughts go out to our employees, the entire court family, and the Independence Police Department.”
Late Thursday afternoon, more than a dozen police officers lined up outside the hospital and escorted the bodies of the deceased to the medical examiner's office. After the procession left, people hugged and comforted each other.
Helicopter footage broadcast by KMBC television earlier in the day showed emergency vehicles converging around a large, isolated house in the middle of a field. The area was a mix of forest and farmland, with houses scattered over several acres. There was a church mixed in with the houses.
Independence is a suburb of Kansas City with approximately 122,000 residents.
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Associated Press writers Lisa Bauman in Bellingham, Washington, Josh Funk in Omaha, Nebraska, and Steve Karnowski in St. Paul, Minnesota, contributed to this story.